Huawei Unveils Innovative Smart WAN Architecture for Internet Service Providers
On September 17, during the HUAWEI CONNECT 2026 event in Shanghai, Huawei held a significant roundtable discussion titled "Smart WAN: Strengthening the Connectivity Foundation for AI Services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs)". This gathering brought together global experts and partners from various ISPs to delve into industry trends, innovative solutions, and best practices. Huawei showcased its strategic goal of developing a smart WAN architecture to maximize the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and computational power in the intelligence era.
Wayne Zhou, Vice President of the ISP Business Unit at Huawei, emphasized the accelerating commercialization of AI and how it's enabling large asset-holding companies to monetize their capabilities through lightweight services. This shift is transforming the ISP sector from traditional providers to entities leveraging their unique edge nodes for seamless integration of connectivity, computing, and APIs, evolving from merely selling bandwidth to offering AI services. They are building a unified, intelligent service-oriented wide area network (WAN) to enhance AI readiness and facilitate continuous evolution.
Ado, the CEO of Huawei's WAN domain, introduced the smart WAN architecture and highlighted three significant changes driven by agent-based AI in networks. First, connections are moving from human interaction to agent-based systems. Second, traffic patterns are shifting from predominantly downstream to substantial upstream traffic. Finally, network experience assurance is expanding from specific applications to encompass entire workflows of agents. To manage and leverage these changes effectively, ISPs must fortify their networks. Ado proposed focusing on three strategic pillars:
1. Building a hierarchical, converged IP-optical architecture that is modular and standardized. This enables ISPs to rapidly expand their presence, provide services, and enhance network resilience, thus accelerating AI service deployment.
2. Emphasizing end-to-end user experience to transform network capabilities into distinct, measurable, and deliverable services, which facilitates the monetization of both network capabilities and AI.
3. Enhancing intelligent operations and maintenance (O&M) capabilities. Utilizing tools like digital network mapping, failure location agents, and AI assistants can significantly reduce operational expenses (OPEX) while improving operational and maintenance efficiency.
A roadmap for the target WAN networks was presented, aimed at helping ISPs harness new growth opportunities in the AI age. During the roundtable, Lintasarta Indonesia, SiliconFlow China, and Telconet Ecuador shared insights from their AI services, offering practical guidance for the planning and deployment of smart networks in the AI era.
Looking ahead, Huawei is committed to boosting its innovation and investment in the ISP and computing network sectors, working collaboratively with clients to usher in a new intelligent future.
Wayne Zhou, Vice President of the ISP Business Unit at Huawei, emphasized the accelerating commercialization of AI and how it's enabling large asset-holding companies to monetize their capabilities through lightweight services. This shift is transforming the ISP sector from traditional providers to entities leveraging their unique edge nodes for seamless integration of connectivity, computing, and APIs, evolving from merely selling bandwidth to offering AI services. They are building a unified, intelligent service-oriented wide area network (WAN) to enhance AI readiness and facilitate continuous evolution.
Ado, the CEO of Huawei's WAN domain, introduced the smart WAN architecture and highlighted three significant changes driven by agent-based AI in networks. First, connections are moving from human interaction to agent-based systems. Second, traffic patterns are shifting from predominantly downstream to substantial upstream traffic. Finally, network experience assurance is expanding from specific applications to encompass entire workflows of agents. To manage and leverage these changes effectively, ISPs must fortify their networks. Ado proposed focusing on three strategic pillars:
1. Building a hierarchical, converged IP-optical architecture that is modular and standardized. This enables ISPs to rapidly expand their presence, provide services, and enhance network resilience, thus accelerating AI service deployment.
2. Emphasizing end-to-end user experience to transform network capabilities into distinct, measurable, and deliverable services, which facilitates the monetization of both network capabilities and AI.
3. Enhancing intelligent operations and maintenance (O&M) capabilities. Utilizing tools like digital network mapping, failure location agents, and AI assistants can significantly reduce operational expenses (OPEX) while improving operational and maintenance efficiency.
A roadmap for the target WAN networks was presented, aimed at helping ISPs harness new growth opportunities in the AI age. During the roundtable, Lintasarta Indonesia, SiliconFlow China, and Telconet Ecuador shared insights from their AI services, offering practical guidance for the planning and deployment of smart networks in the AI era.
Looking ahead, Huawei is committed to boosting its innovation and investment in the ISP and computing network sectors, working collaboratively with clients to usher in a new intelligent future.
Topics Telecommunications）
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