Building a Thriving F5.5G All-Optical Network Industry for New Growth in the AI Era

A New Era in High-Speed Communication

The F5.5G All-Optical Industry Summit, recently held during MWC Shanghai 2025, marked a significant milestone in the evolution of optical communication technologies. With participants such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Information and Communication Technology Committee, the Chinese Academy of Information and Communication Technology, major telecoms like China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom, as well as international representatives from Maxis in Malaysia and CTM, the summit served as a platform for discussing rapid advancements in the burgeoning F5.5G industry.

Over the past few years, the commercial deployment of optical F5.5G networks has gained momentum, with more than 70 carriers worldwide launching 10Gbps packages. This broad adoption has paved the way for innovative AI-to-Home (AItoH) services, immensely improving broadband access for consumers and businesses alike. Furthermore, over 240 networks globally have been established with transmission rates of 400 Gbps, and the industry is now venturing into the realm of metro networks with a latency of just 1 millisecond (ms) for faster access to cloud computing resources.

As AI emerges as a transformative force in the global digital economy, airlines and other industry leaders are keenly pivoting towards AI technologies. Notably, service providers are shifting from traditional connectivity roles to becoming comprehensive service providers encompassing connectivity, data processing, and application services. According to Li Peng, Senior Vice President and Head of ICT Services at Huawei, “Households and businesses are becoming the most valuable scenarios for strategic AI transformation by network operators.”

In a bid to foster growth in the industry, Huawei is collaborating with partners to enhance the development of optical F5.5G networks and facilitate the interconnection among cloud platforms, intelligence, networks, and devices. This collaborative effort aims to promote AI applications across various sectors, thereby creating mutual benefits in the age of AI.

Enhancing User Value and Experience

Bob Chen, President of Huawei's Optical Business Product Line, underscored the importance of delivering new value to end-users through enhanced broadband services. He presented Huawei’s latest innovations in four core areas of their fully optical F5.5G networks. Chen noted, “To enhance the perceived value for residential broadband users, it is essential to make bandwidth upgrades visible and ensure differentiated experiences.”

Huawei consistently develops innovative solutions aimed at helping carriers bundle high-quality services into attractive packages for users. Their solutions involve upgrading bandwidth, creating differentiated experiences, enabling new terminals, and fostering extensive home applications. For example, their 50G PON solution supports upgrades to Ultra-Gigabit and 10Gbps configurations, enhancing end-to-end network capacity to deliver a premium experience.

Additionally, Huawei has introduced the AI Home Hub, designed as a central smart home device that integrates rich smart applications based on AI interactions. By exploring joint efforts with telecoms to build fully optical metro networks with a latency of 1ms, Huawei is set to allow users rapid access to cloud computing resources and AI applications, streamlining the delivery of these essential services via low-latency deterministic networks.

With the rapid advancements in the F5.5G industry, it’s clear that the pivotal role of AI in driving digital transformation will continue to reshape how consumers and businesses interact with technology, benefiting from enhanced connectivity and innovative applications in the near future.