business
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TALKING
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Huawei hired more than 300 top experts
from the wireless industry around the world
and announced that it put US$600 million
of investment in 5G research. In 2016,
Huawei set up a 5G product line for 5G
products. Today, thousands of employees
are engaged in 5G product development.
Following this, in 2017 and 2018 Huawei
invested almost US$1.4 billion into 5G
product development.
In 2018, Huawei announced the world’s
most powerful 5G chipset. In 2019, Huawei
announced the world’s first foldable 5G
smartphone – Mate X. Regarding 5G
networks, Huawei’s wireless technology
has ranked number one in all the top
performance tests. Just this summer, Huawei
won the ‘Best 5G Core Network Technology’
award at the 5G World Summit 2019.
The root reason for Huawei’s leadership in
5G is our insistent and heavy investment in
5G for the past 10 years. We have achieved
a lot of breakthrough in innovations.
For example, most of the key chipsets in
equipment and devices are self-designed.
Regarding ecosystems, Huawei has built
Xlab in order to jointly innovate 5G use cases
with our customers and partners. We have
brought 283 global industry partners and 57
regional partners into Xlab. Based on that,
we are jointly working with Etisalat, STC and
others to innovate the most suitable and
profitable use cases in the Middle East today.
The company also collaborates with carriers
and industry partners to continuously
develop 5G applications in vertical industries,
enable a thriving industry ecosystem and
make full preparations for the mature
commercial use of 5G.
Huawei has also developed 11 5G R&D
centres around the world and utilises more
than 5,700 5G R&D experts and engineers to
advance the future of the 5G revolution.
Moving forward, our carrier business will
seize the first wave of business opportunities
for 5G in the Middle East region. We will work
hard to leverage our end-to-end strengths
to achieve strategic leadership and enhance
trust. As always, we need to strive to create
greater value for our customers. We need
to use innovative business solutions to help
them increase profitability.
38
INTELLIGENTCIO
“
MIDDLE EAST
GOVERNMENTS
LOOK AT 5G AS A
REAL ENABLER
OF THEIR DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
JOURNEYS.
Are the US and some of the western
countries’ concerns about the security
of Huawei 5G technologies justified?
Cybersecurity is Huawei’s highest priority
and it overarches everything. Huawei
has served three billion users with 1,500
networks over 170 countries for the past 30
years and Huawei has maintained a very
solid record that we have never had a serious
network security incident.
We reject the US government’s claims as
groundless, meritless and without fact. In
more than 30 years of business, supporting
more than a third of the world’s population
today, Huawei has never compromised
anyone’s security, nor would we. We
have grown into a US$100 billion plus
business only because our customers and
governments around the world trust Huawei.
We have never been asked by the Chinese
government, or any other government, to do
anything that would weaken the security of a
product. Only about 30% of the components
in Huawei products are actually made by the
company; the rest are obtained from a global
supply chain that Huawei closely monitors in
order to prevent security breaches.
5G brings benefits to people and offers
us information channels and pipes. These
channels and pipes are controlled by
operators and governments. We provide
equipment only, similar to water pipes and
taps. They won’t be a big threat to security.
We believe that our customers in the Middle
East region make their own assessment
and decisions. We believe that before any
country says Huawei poses a threat or not,
they should first assess Huawei’s history,
value and contributions to society.
Do you have any figures to elaborate
how much 5G technology is expected
to add to the UAE and/or the MENA
region’s economies by a certain date?
The likely contribution of 5G to an economy
has been the subject of many studies. Most
agree that, to derive the maximum benefits,
a country or region will need to have a
high existing level of mobile penetration
and a clear roadmap for deploying digital
platforms. With one of the highest rates
of mobile adoption in the world, the GCC
region appears well positioned to benefit
significantly from 5G.
According to the GSMA, in the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA) region, mobile
technologies and services generated around
4.2% of GDP in 2016, equating to US$165
billion of economic value. In the period to
2020, the GSMA expects this to increase to
almost US$200 billion (4.3% of GDP).
In the GCC region, a study we conducted
with Analysys Mason estimates that 5G
will provide a cumulative new revenue
opportunity over 10 years totalling US$273
billion, with about 50% of this addressable
by mobile operators (MNOs) and the rest by
other ICT players.
Huawei advocates openness, collaboration
and shared success. Through joint innovation
with our customers and partners, we are
expanding the value of ICT to develop
a more robust and symbiotic industry
ecosystem. Huawei is an active member of
more than 400 standards organisations,
industry alliances and open source
communities, where we work with our peers
to develop mainstream standards and lay
the foundation for shared success. Together,
we are driving the industry forward.
Through continuous innovation in ICT
infrastructure and smart devices, we
are making technology simpler, more
convenient and more affordable, giving
more people access to the benefits of
digital technology. Our ultimate goal is
to improve people’s quality of life and
promote socioeconomic development. n
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