Tech war: Huawei's Meng Wanzhou beats the drum for global expansion of 5G mobile services as Chinese firms struggle with US sanctions

Meng Wanzhou, the deputy chairwoman, rotating chairwoman and chief financial officer at Huawei Technologies Co, on Wednesday extolled the global prospects for 5G mobile technology at the MWC Shanghai trade show, even as Chinese telecommunications equipment suppliers struggle to expand outside their home market because of US sanctions.

In her keynote presentation at MWC Shanghai, the regional edition of the world's largest mobile communications industry trade show, Meng said 5G connections worldwide are expected to reach 5 billion by 2030, up from an estimated 1.5 billion connections this year.

She indicated that mainland China, the world's largest smartphone market, already had more than 561 million 5G users in 2022.

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"5G has been in commercial use around the world for four years now," Meng, who took her turn as Huawei's rotating chairwoman in April, said. "It's driving new value creation and 5.5G is the next step forward."

5.5G technology, which Huawei refers to as "5G Advanced", is expected by the company to further stimulate 5G's potential by serving as the bridge to next-generation 6G technology.

Technological innovation in the 5.5G era will bring operators a tenfold increase in network performance over 5G, according to Shenzhen-based Huawei, which remains the world's top telecoms gear vendor to network operators in spite of being under a US trade blacklist since May 2019.

The peak data rates for mobile and home broadband users, for example, will increase to 10 gigabits per second on 5.5G networks from the current 1Gbps, ensuring better experience in immersive and interactive services, according to a Huawei statement during MWC Barcelona, the flagship annual mobile industry trade show organised by the GSM Association, which was held in Spain from February 23 to March 2 this year.

Consumers and industries, meanwhile, have benefited from the development of 5G, according to Meng, who did not discuss Huawei's struggles under the US sanctions. "Because of 5G, artificial intelligence and cloud [computing services], consumers get convenient and trustworthy digital payments anytime," she said.

The focus on 5G by Meng - a daughter of Huawei founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei - in her first high-profile public speech as rotating chairwoman reflects the privately-held firm's strategy to expand its presence in its home market, including in traditional industries on the mainland.

Huawei recently secured a deal to supply 52 per cent of China Mobile's 5G base stations, the largest portion of infrastructure contracts put out for tender by the network operator this year.

With 5G technology, Huawei has already spurred transformation in China's coal mining sector under a cooperation with Shaanxi Coal Industry, the state-owned company that operates the Hongliulin coal mine in northwestern Shaanxi province.

Huawei has also secured a series of broad cooperation pacts with local governments to boost the firm's push into traditional industries. These include the municipal government of Tianjin, a northern metropolis near Beijing, where the company pledged to support the coastal city's smart ports, computing resources and telecoms infrastructure.

Meng's MWC Shanghai keynote presentation comes years after she was hailed as a national hero upon her return to China in a chartered flight in September 2021, following nearly three years under house arrest in Canada where she fought extradition to the US over a bank fraud case. Under a deal reached with US prosecutors, that case and other charges against Meng were dismissed last December.

Still, Meng faces an uphill battle to find business expansion opportunities for Huawei, which reported flat revenue growth in the first quarter.

Earlier this month, Huawei hit back at a potential mandatory ban by the European Union on member-countries using 5G network products from the company and ZTE Corp because of security risks.

Other speakers at Wednesday's opening of MWC Shanghai, which concludes on June 30, include ZTE chief executive Xu Ziyang, Qualcomm chief commercial officer Jim Cathey and Lara Dewar, chief commercial officer of the GSM Association, which represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.