Huawei says medium-term developments in 5G technology will deliver mobile broadband speeds of up to 10Gbps within five to ten years, unlocking a new generation of industrial use cases.
The Chinese tech giant uses the term "5.5G" to describe future advances that bridge the gap between the current generation of mobile technology and 6G networks which are due to be commercially available as early as 2030.
It argues the headline speed will be achieved through wireless technologies like MIMO, through higher spectrum efficiency, and higher order modulation, and as part of a wider connectivity ecosystem that comprises advances in fibre, Passive Optical Network (PON), and Wi-Fi 7.
5.5G network vision
When combined with advances in microprocessors, storage, cloud computing and other areas of IT infrastructure, Huawei believes 5.5G will unlock a new generation of intelligent, interconnected, and scaled services for businesses by breaking free of existing technological bottlenecks.
It believes the potential for robotics, industrial applications, and massive IoT deployments is vast.
“As [digitisation] takes hold, intelligent applications will see large-scale commercialisation and computing resources will be located across multiple clouds," said David Wang, chairman of Huawei’s ICT Infrastructure Management board. “Enterprises need to make use of computing power from multiple clouds at lower costs, with greater agility and flexibility.”
To accelerate the development of ‘5.5G’, Huawei wants the industry to develop a common roadmap within the frameworks of standardisation bodies like 3GPP and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
“As we move towards the 5.5G era, all industry players need to work together to bring standards to maturity and cultivate a thriving industry,” he said.
Although Huawei has endured many well-documented struggles in the US, the UK and in other markets, it is still a highly influential player in the world of telecommunications and IT, especially when it comes to networking technology.
It hopes that by establishing a leadership position in such standardisation it can maintain this influence despite any geopolitical difficulties. This will prove especially important in 6G, where Huawei hopes to launch its first compatible products by 2030.
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