Huawei noted that more than 60 operators have unveiled their plans to commercialize 5G-A
Chinese vendor Huawei has launched what it claims to be the world’s first commercial “5.5G”, or 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network platform based on 3GPP Release 18.
The launch of the so-called Apollo version was made during the 2024 Huawei User Group Meeting (HUGM) in Istanbul, Turkey.
In June of this year, Release 18 was finalized—the first set of standards developed for 5G-A by 3GPP. This makes 2024 the first year of commercial deployment of 5G-A technology, according to Huawei.
The vendor noted that more than 60 operators have unveiled their plans to commercialize 5G-A, adding that it has launched the Apollo version to facilitate the all-band evolution to 5G and scale up the commercial use of 5G-A.
Huawei also highlighted that the Apollo version “introduces intelligence” to multi-band coordination, beam management and energy savings. The multi-band coordination leverages intelligent carrier frequency selection and aggregation to unlock the potential of multi-band networks, increasing uplink and downlink speeds by up to 30% across diverse service scenarios, Huawei added.
In multi-antenna cases, the intelligent beam management combines software and hardware innovations to maximize the potential of TDD’s high bandwidth and Massive MIMO, enabling networks to provide stronger capabilities and further increase speeds by 20%, the vendor said.
“As the world’s first commercial version based on 3GPP Release 18, Apollo marks the arrival of 5.5G for Huawei’s RAN solutions. We believe this is a milestone that will better position operators to push 5G development, accelerate 5.5G commercialization, and explore new business opportunities,” said Sun Rui, president of Huawei Wireless Solution R&D.
Huawei expects 5G-A technology will create new business opportunities, while it will protect previous investments made by operators in the 5G field.
At MWC Shanghai 2024, which took place last month in the Chinese city, Huawei hosted the global launch of its 5G-A pioneers program. The event brought together 5G operators from around the world, including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom as well as Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT), UAE-based du and Oman Telecommunications.
At the event, they announced 5G-A plans and discussed how to drive the development of 5G-A networks and how to seize opportunities to create new market space for growth.
David Wang, Huawei’s executive director of the board and chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board, delivered a keynote speech in which he explained the outlook for 5G-A technology.
“5G-A will be the path forward. It will protect vested investment, while creating new business opportunities by expanding business boundaries. As we look towards 2030, the industry as a whole will need to ramp up efforts to reinforce 5G-A technologies and support the healthy development of 5G,” Wang said.
Earlier this year, during Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, Huawei had unveiled eight “5.5G”, or 5G-Advanced innovation practices to help operators build such networks.
Huawei’s eight practices for the 5.5G field cover key technology areas, including antenna evolutions, mmWave bandwidth, network intelligence in the RAN and energy efficiency. During MWC 2024, Huawei also unveiled its 5.5G intelligent core network solution.
