The rapid development of the digital economy will see over 50% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) digitalised in 2022, says telecoms giant Huawei’s Ryan Ding.
Ding, executive director and president of the Huawei Carrier Business Group, was at the company’s Day0 Forum 2022 at Mobile World Congress (MWC).
“Many countries and regions − like China, South Korea and the EU − have already announced huge investment plans for the digital economy,” he said. “As ICT infrastructure providers, operators have an important role to play in providing the cornerstone of the digital economy.”
Ding indicated there are three areas that will give operators the opportunity to shape the future of the digital economy: connection density, computing diversity and carbon reduction.
In terms of connection density, he told attendees that operators can grow their 5G user base and expand their business scope.
Having commenced just over two years ago, commercial global 5G deployment has grown significantly during this period. As of end 2021, more than 200 operators had deployed commercial 5G networks, servicing more than 700 million 5G users.
“There are currently over 1 200 commercial 5G devices in use,” he stated. “This growing user base is bringing commercial returns to operators, while driving continuous network rollouts.
“For example, in China, 5G-to-B private networks have been deployed at scale in multiple industries. By the end of 2021, Huawei had signed more than 3 000 commercial 5G-to-B contracts with Chinese operators and partners.”
In the area of computing diversity, Ding said as more industries go digital, IT infrastructure will need to be rebuilt to drive more efficient operations. “By diversifying their computing resources, operators can create synergies between connectivity and IT to boost enterprise digitalisation for new growth.”
Turning to carbon reduction, the Huawei executive noted that green ICT is key to sustainable growth in the digital economy.
“The ICT industry is providing new technologies to help other industries reduce their carbon footprints. These savings are predicted to amount to 10 times larger than the industry’s own footprint.”
Ding also noted that Huawei has a green strategy under the banner “more bits, less watts”, which aims to help operators increase network capacity and cut the energy consumption per bit.
Huawei has also proposed a Network Carbon Intensity Index to quantify the ICT industry’s carbon emissions and help operators make their green strategy a reality.
MWC 2022 is under way in Barcelona, Spain, until 4 March.
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