Huawei promotes advanced 5G services in the Middle East amid increasing regulatory headwinds in Europe
- Huawei is working on 5.5G technology with operators to meet demand for equipment that can deal with growing amounts of data
- Chinese telecoms giant is turning to the Middle East amid increased regulatory scrutiny in Europe on national security grounds
Chinese telecommunications gear giant Huawei Technologies is turning to the Middle East to promote its advanced 5G technology as the US-sanctioned company faces increasing pressure in Europe.
At Huawei’s Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Dubai on Tuesday, the company’s rotating chairman Ken Hu Houkun said the firm is working on 5.5G technology with operators to meet demand for equipment that can deal with growing amounts of data.
The 5.5G technology, also known as “5G-Advanced”, has been hailed by the company as the next level of telecommunications technology with a tenfold increase in speed over existing networks.
“We need to keep innovating because technology is changing so fast, with large language models, ChatGPT and driverless cars,” Hu said in his keynote speech via a live video chat. “The demands are evolving every day, so our networks also need to evolve. And we, as an industry as a whole, need to get ready for the future.”
It is the second time that Huawei has held its annual Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates since the inaugural event in 2010. The move comes as the Chinese telecoms giant faces increased regulatory scrutiny in Europe on national security grounds.