Huawei's Rotating CEO, Eric Xu, declared that cloud adoption was a necessary step on the path towards 'digitalization'. Xu made the declaration during a compelling keynote address he delivered at Huawei's Ultra-Broadband Forum in Hangzhou, China.
The theme of Huawei's event was 'Grow with an All-Cloud Network' and Huawei's Rotating CEO highlighted the strategic approach carriers needed to adopt in order to seize the incredible opportunities presented by 'industry digitization' which would enable enterprises to record unprecedented levels of growth.
Xu stated how industries on a global scale are now going digital. Organizations that once allocated budgets to buy IT equipment are now buying cloud services. In addition to this, he claimed that providing leased-line services for the B2B segment will also be a source of growth for telecom carriers.
Xu told those assembled at the UBBF conference in Hangzhou, which was attended by a vast amount of senior executives and experts from the telecommunications. that he was committed to working with carriers to enable this new service for the B2B sector, but conceded that cloud service providers presented a 'prominent challenge' for telco carriers.
Xu said, "Huawei is committed to working with carriers to build compelling leased line services for the B2B segment, to navigate the challenges, and seize the opportunities from increasing adoption of cloud services. However, cloud services present both opportunities and challenges to carriers leased line business. One of the most prominent challenges comes from cloud service providers. They are eyeing the B2B market too. Together, with our carrier customers, we will leverage our leading technology and solutions to build agile leased line services with a compelling customer experience. Together, we will face new challenges and latch on to new opportunities."
Ryan Ding, Executive Director and President of the Carrier Business Group at Huawei Technologies reiterated its commitment to providing 'quality broadband'. During his keynote address at the UBBF conference in Hangzhou, Ding claimed that experience is becoming a bottleneck that is plaguing broadband development and stressed that operators needed to provide its customers with better experiences in order to meet the needs of individuals, households, enterprises to enable the future intelligent world.
Ding said, "Huawei has unveiled its commitment to "quality broadband". The company aims to help operators improve connection, service, and customer experience, and achieve precise, value-driven investment and network deployment so as to seize new opportunities from broadband development. We believe that quality broadband is possible only when experience-driven operations and value-driven network deployment are realized. These two initiatives can help operators build differentiated competitive strengths and achieve business success. As we enter an intelligent world, broadband will be more than network connections; it will become a cornerstone of the intelligent world."
Telecom Review also managed to secure an exclusive interview with Lan Yun, at Huawei's 4th annual Ultra-Broadband Forum in Hangzhou.
Yun, who is the current President of the Carriers Business Group for Huawei in the Middle East, disclosed his opinions in relation to leased line services for the B2B segment in the Middle East, and highlighted the challenges currently facing operators attempting to improve the efficiency of its broadband investment in the GCC region.
Huawei's Rotating CEO, Eric Xu, highlighted during his presentation at the UBBF event in Hangzhou, that providing leased line services for the B2B segment will be a new source of growth for telecom operators. Will Huawei adopt this approach with carriers in the Middle East in an effort to seize the opportunities from increasing the adoption of cloud services?
Cloud adoption is a necessary step on the path to digitalization. Companies that once allocated budgets to IT equipment are now buying cloud services, and bandwidth requirements are growing tenfold. Low latency is no longer acceptable for regions seeking to go digital and the Middle East is such a region. Key vertical sectors from finance to education to public safety are beginning to experience the benefits of a cloud infrastructure, and the trend is only growing stronger. Demand for leased line services for the B2B segment is going to grow exponentially to meet requirements of organizations accelerating on their digital journey.
Huawei has been vocal about our desire to assist the process of digitalization in the region. Thanks to our global expertise and our local partners, we have the ability to help organizations access the most cutting edge technologies and implement them in a way relevant to their needs. We provide telecom operators with next generation technologies such as SDN to create synergy between the network and cloud. Our unique selling point is our "Leased Line + Cloud Service" which offers enterprises value by bundling services such as WAN & LAN, including Wi-Fi. By offering full process cycle experience, our solutions provide an edge to carriers competing in the B2B segment.
Huawei wants to encourage Middle East enterprises to adopt cloud services, and we want telecom operators and regional organizations to grow in tandem in a mutually beneficial relationship. Providing leased lines to the B2B segment will certainly be a priority for us in the coming years.
During his keynote at Huawei's UBBF, Ryan Ding disclosed Huawei's commitment to 'Quality Broadband'. However, what is the biggest challenges preventing operators in the Middle East from increasing the efficiency of its broadband investment and reducing its playback time?
In many ways, the leadership of the Middle East is doing an excellent job in promoting access to quality broadband across the region. The governments of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, for example, have recognized that investing in ICT is investing in their social and economic future, and they have established strong and just regulatory frameworks to support broadband growth. We hope that leaders in the Middle East will continue to provide financial support, invest in infrastructure, and create robust regulations to create a better broadband industry environment.
Yet any nascent technology must overcome growing pains, and the broadband industry is no exception. Operation efficiency remains one of the most critical pain points of carriers, with repercussions not only on Opex and profit, but also on customer experience. The adoption rate of broadband is highly dependent on network resource inventory accuracy. If this is not aligned with what clients have been promised, customers will be dissatisfied, complaint rates will be high, and carriers will expand valuable budget and manpower on home visits and customer care. It is therefore crucial for telecom carriers to improve operational efficiency in order to keep our patrons happy.
Another challenge more specific to the region is managing guidelines regarding digital content. The Middle East has unique policies dictating which video content is permitted within its borders stemming from cultural and religious guidelines. Local operators must face prohibitive costs to obtain content rights. Yet the populations of the region also have a high demand for digital content-Saudi Arabia, for example, has the highest rate of YouTube consumptions per capita in the world, particularly during Ramadan and football events. Thus, carriers must offer optimized networks for high speed rate, low package costs and wide coverage to guarantee satisfactory user experience. There is conflict between demand for low costs and high efficiency and laws requiring carrier to pay expensive sums to obtain content rights. This can make it challenging for carriers to provide the high speed networks at the price that customers expect.
