Maximizing 5G Network Value in the Era of AI: Insights from Huawei's Li Peng

During the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 held in Barcelona, Li Peng, the Senior Corporate Vice President and head of ICT Sales and Services at Huawei, delivered an insightful keynote. He addressed the pivotal role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in unlocking the full potential of 5G networks. According to Li, the convergence of 5G and AI technologies is expected to drive double-digit growth in both Data Usage (DOU) and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) among mobile subscribers.

Li emphasized, "We are swiftly entering a fully intelligent world. Smart applications are proliferating, imposing new demands on networks." He outlined Huawei's commitment to collaborating with global operators and industry partners to facilitate digital enablement, strengthen network foundations, and integrate AI across the board. The ultimate goal is to sculpt the DNA of a smart world together.

Evolution of Human-Machine Interaction

Li highlighted that AI is transforming human-machine interaction (HMI) from simple text-based communications to rich, multimodal interactions involving voice, gestures, and beyond. This shift is making HMI more real-time and user-friendly, giving rise to a new wave of innovative applications. For instance, users can more naturally engage with their devices through AI-driven voice assistants. In cloud-based phones, AI avatars are providing visual feedback, enhancing the user experience for services like health monitoring and making mobile experiences more accessible and productive.

To support such applications, however, networks must provide guaranteed low latency, necessitating an ongoing evolution from 5G non-standalone (NSA) to 5G standalone (SA) and ultimately to 5G-Advanced (5G-A). Operators can implement innovative technologies like Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) and Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) to reduce fundamental latency and ensure differentiated deterministic latency for specific scenarios.

AI-Enabled Content Production and Distribution

Beyond interactions, AI is poised to revolutionize how content is produced and disseminated. Li pointed out that technologies such as AI-Generated Content (AIGC) can facilitate the creation of hour-long videos in 2D and 3D at the click of a button. AI-driven recommendations have become more targeted than ever, enabling more personalized content delivery to wider audiences online. These trends are anticipated to result in surging network traffic over the next five years, presenting unprecedented demands on network infrastructure. To keep pace, operators will need additional spectrum, enhanced network capacity, and significantly increased upstream and downstream bandwidth.

Network Covering User Experience

As mobile devices and AI become more ubiquitous, demand for user experience-centered network coverage is expected to escalate. Research indicates that over one billion people will use cloud-based phones by 2030, each requiring swift access to cloud computing power. Furthermore, intelligent applications within vehicles will necessitate robust coverage across urban, rural, and highway environments to ensure uninterrupted mobility experiences.

Meeting these demands will entail continuous advancements in network deployment, transitioning rapidly from 5G NSA to 5G SA for seamless indoor and outdoor experiences, and eventually to 5G-A focused on user experiences. This shift will help operators extend network coverage and ensure seamless experiences for millions of new connections for people and billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

More Complex Network Operations

The increasing intricacy of networks will drive a shift towards application-oriented operations and maintenance. AI will introduce more complex application scenarios and diverse requirements. From a network perspective, this transition will prompt a departure from traditional resource-oriented operations and maintenance approaches to more application-centered strategies.

Several companies are already pioneering AI-driven operations and maintenance systems. These AI agents can leverage digital twins to predict personalized user requirements, significantly reducing service time from days to mere minutes. For network maintenance, AI agents equipped with self-learning capabilities can identify and locate failures within seconds, boosting troubleshooting efficiency by up to 30%. Digital testing environments allow AI agents to analyze real-world application traffic patterns and optimize networks continuously, improving responsiveness around the clock.

A New Era for Business Monetization

Li asserted, "New network capabilities will give rise to novel business models." Operators can shift from merely monetizing traffic to monetizing the user experience itself. Currently, operators globally are actively exploring new methods to monetize experiences based on variables such as speed, latency, and exclusive perks. Customized services are being rolled out for business travelers, live streamers, and AI-integrated phone users, with some venturing into the B2B2C space by opening network capabilities through APIs.

Chinese companies, for example, are collaborating with over 100 industries, including insurance and catering, to offer AI-enabled calling services via open APIs—leading to a tenfold increase in industry client revenues.

Li concluded with a clear call to action: "The opportunities are enormous, and the time to act is now. Pioneers are expanding rapidly across over 200 cities worldwide, making decisive strides forward and unlocking incredible new value."

The MWC Barcelona 2025 will run from March 3-6 in Spain, where Huawei will showcase its latest products and solutions at booth 1H50 in Hall 1 of the Fira Gran Via. In 2025, the commercial rollout of 5G-Advanced will accelerate, with AI helping operators reshape their businesses, infrastructure, and operational frameworks. Huawei remains committed to partnering with operators and stakeholders globally to expedite the transition to an intelligent world.

For further details, visit Huawei - MWC 2025.