Dubai: Huawei Middle East & Central Asia and SAMENA Telecommunications Council jointly hosted the 5.5G Leaders’ Summit at Atlantis the Palm, Dubai, UAE, with a theme “10Gbps, Striding towards the 5.5G Era”.
The 5.5G Leaders’ Summit gathered ICT leaders, regulators, industry organizations (such as GSMA and WBBA), vendors, enterprises, analysts, chipsets, application ecosystem partners, and other experts. They came together to share their ideas and discuss various topics related to creating sustainable 5.5G connectivity and ecosystem aggregation platforms. The aim was to foster collaboration and accelerate digital economic growth.
Since the first launch of the 5G network almost four years ago, adoption has accelerated in the ME region.
5.5G is the essential upgrade for 5G. This is a key milestone for the increasingly integrated intelligent world, while 6G is still in early study. It will offer 100 times more business potential with a ten-times-better network experience than 5G.
Great challenges and greater opportunities:
H.E. Mohammed Al Ramsi, Deputy Director General, TDRA UAE, gave an opening speech at the summit. He said, “Technologies are developing and renewing and presenting us with great challenges and greater opportunities.”
He further added, “Providing a sound regulatory environment is crucial for embracing 5.5G’s potential fully. As such, the UAE has taken several steps, including the establishment of the ICT regulatory sandbox.”
In a confident statement, Mr. Al Ramsi expressed his belief that the ongoing session at the 5.5G Leaders’ Summit would yield valuable and practical insights. The focus was on harnessing the power of 5.5G technology to propel sustainable development and foster digital innovation not only in the UAE but also on a global scale.
Sustainable digital economic growth:
In his opening speech, Steven Yi, President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, said, “Sustainable digital economic growth relies on three powers: transmission, computing, and storage.
To build these powers, it is crucial to consistently invest in connectivity infrastructure like 5.5G, prioritize green deployment methods, and foster local digital talent.”
Arrival of the 5.5G Era:
Dr. Philip Song, Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei Carrier BG, delivered the keynote about ‘Striding towards the 5.5G Era’. He stated that, “with the arrival of the 5.5G era, people will enjoy true-to-life experience such as 3D video.”
He added, “with the maturity of the RedCap technology and the innovation of the Passive IoT technology process will be accelerated.”
Dr. Philip Song expressed his optimistic aspirations. He emphasized the importance of working together to harness the potential of the 5.5G era and deliver greater societal benefits. Dr. Song believed that through collective efforts, they could effectively translate more value.
Martin Creaner, Director General of the World Broadband Association, emphasized the organization’s role. Their objective is to eliminate barriers and realize the socioeconomic benefits of the Giga/10Giga Society in the region. Creaner highlighted the WBBA’s commitment to driving progress and maximizing the advantages.
Rashid Alahmedi, COO of InfraX, was also present at the event. He said that 5.5G will address the current technology gaps. This will enable various digital services in the power grid industry.
Stephen Wilson, Omdia Senior Principal Analyst, delivered a keynote. He said that the demands on broadband networks are developing rapidly.
RedCap Technology
During the summit, Huawei unveiled FWA², a new generation HBB service supported by advanced 5.5G technology. Vanness You, Vice President of Huawei ME&CA CNBG, highlighted the need to upgrade from the FWA standard to FWA², given the widespread adoption of multi-carrier aggregation terminals and the development of RedCap technology. FWA² encompasses FWA Pro, offering speeds of up to 1 Gbps, as well as FWA Lite and FWA Biz, which prioritize low-cost and high-reliability features. These use cases represent the initial possibilities unlocked by 5.5G technology.
Additionally, the UAE TDRA, etisalat by e&, du, infraX, Quanray, HTC, Lierda, and Huawei jointly launched the 5.5G OpenLab at the summit. This lab aims to foster a 5.5G ecosystem alliance, conduct interoperability testing, and develop advanced use cases for consumers, homes, and various industry sectors