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Huawei has now shipped 45,000 base stations and secured 30 commercial 5G contracts with operators around the world, making it the biggest investor in 5G technology
Chinese tech manufacturer Huawei is pushing ahead with its global 5G rollout programme, despite concerted pressure from the US to see 5G network equipment banned in Europe.
Speaking exclusively at the Huawei Analyst Summit in Shenzhen this week Ken Hu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, Ken Hu, said that 2019 would see the company continuing its lightning fast growth.
“2018 was quite an eventful and fruitful year for us,” Hu said. “We achieved significant growth in our business and continued to champion innovation. We need to keep riding that wave while we are dealing with these short-term problems,” he added.
Huawei has so far shipped 45,000 5G base stations and secured 30 commercial rollout contracts with network operators around the world.
“When you talk about delivering ubiquitous connectivity, you have to be talking about 5G. 5G has come much quicker than any of us expected,” he explained.
Huawei predicts that 5G will hit 500 million users within 3 years, compared with 10 years for 3G and 5 years for 4G.
Hu stated that his company expects that 6.5 million base stations will have been deployed in 5G networks across the world by 2025, delivering next generation connectivity to 2.8bn users.
“So 5G is coming, but do we really need it? 4G already offers a pretty good service,” Hu asked.
“5G is not merely faster than 4G it is a revolution in connectivity – it will make it possible to get everything online at all times and deliver truly ubiquitous connectivity,” he concluded.
Speaking of US allegations that Huawei’s network equipment poses a security risk to the countries in which it operates, Hu said that his company would act proactively to dispel these myths but that the wider telecoms industry needed to work together to ensure that cyber security remained top of mind for operators and network equipment providers through the early stages of 5G rollout.
“We need to establish an independent standard verification processes for all companies in the sector. Allegations should be based on verifiable fact,” he said.
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