Huawei has made a “peace offering” to the United States in a bid to defuse the potentially highly damaging dispute between the two sides.

 

Huawei has made a “peace offering” to the United States in a bid to defuse the potentially highly damaging dispute between the two sides.

The boss of the Chinese telecom giant, facing a ban in the US, has said that he was open to a dialogue with Washington and was willing to “license the entire Huawei 5G platform to any American company that wants to manufacture it and install it and operate it, completely independent of Huawei”.

Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms gear maker, has been on a U.S. trade blacklist since May over concerns that its equipment could be used by Beijing to spy. Huawei has repeatedly denied claims that it would help the Chinese government spy on or disrupt other countries’ telecoms system.

The recent overtures by the company to the U.S were cited by Dr Hui Cao, Head of Strategy and Policy at Huawei EU, who was speaking at an event in Brussels. He said, “This is a ‘peace offering’ which we hope will be considered.”

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei also said on Thursday the company is already producing 5G base stations that are free of U.S. components and plans to more than double production next year. From October, the company will be producing 5,000 of the 5G mobile communications base stations per month, and next year it plans to make about 1.5 million stations,he said.

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Dr Cao was speaking separately at an event on how 5G can help promote what is known as “connectivity of transport”, paving the way for “safer roads and a cleaner environment.”

He said his company “can become an indispensable partner for the European Union” as it strives to develop secure and trustworthy networks to empower a common digital future across the continent.

The “DigitALL” debate heard that Europe could play a leading role in the 5G mobile communications revolution by developing Digital Trust with its technology partners.

“The EU’s technology sovereignty – emphasising cybersecurity, data protection and privacy – will be enhanced by working closely with the ICT industry,” said Dr Cao.

“As the world’s leading supplier of telecommunications equipment, Huawei stands ready to address the EU’s concerns about a whole range of issues, from data governance and AI ethics to the management of supply chain risks for equipment used in Europe’s critical infrastructure and digital systems,” Dr Cao pointed out.

Speaking to an audience of analysts, Dr Cao presented Huawei’s 2025 Global Industry Vision report, which details the 10 Megatrends in ICT development that can be expected over the next five years.

“If the EU is forward thinking and seizes the opportunities these new technologies represent, it can lead the world in the digital revolution while maintaining a wise approach to technology sovereignty,” said Dr Cao.

The 10 “Megatrends” identified in Huawei’s Global Industry Vision 2025 report, shaping the future and inspiring a new age of digital inclusion, include:
– Learning to live with robots: the adoption rate of intelligent domestic robots will reach 14 % by 2025.
– Learning to work with robots: industrial robots will work side by side with people in manufacturing, with 103 robots for every 10,000 employees introduced by 2025.
– Super Sight: the percentage of companies using Augmented and Virtual Reality will increase to 10%.
– Augmented Creativity: 97 % of large companies will be using AI in their services or operations.
– Communication will become frictionless: enterprises will be making efficient use of 86 % of the data that they produce.
– Zero search needed: the adoption rate of intelligent personal digital assistants will reach 90per cent.
– Cars will be increasingly connected to the Internet and to each other: C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything) technology will be installed in 15 % of the world’s vehicles.

the amount of global data produced annually will reach 180 zettabytes.

Dr Cao said that 5G networks will cover 58% of the world’s population by 2025.

“We will live in an increasingly symbiotic economy 85 % of business applications will be cloud-based.”

He said, “We lived in historic times when the tremendous technological developments we see will totally transform our lives, whether we like it or not.

“A driver will be robots and AI. Robots can become our new family members and it’s estimated that 14 per cent of families will have a smart domestic robot in their homes in the future.  Robots will change our jobs markets. The question is: are we ready for such change?”

He said, “We at Huawei want green solutions, meaning minimum pollution and safer roads.”

It is estimated, he said, that by 2022, 15 per cent of cars will be equipped with C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything) and this could rise to 30 to 40 per cent in some cities. By 2021 he said the majority of new vehicles produced in China will support C-V2X.

He said that, this week, it was announced that a new airport will be built in Beijing that will handle about 76 million passengers a year. “Such huge passenger numbers will require high efficiency such as facial recognition systems and special parking systems. Much of this need will be met by robots and AI.”

Huawei also emphasized the potential of its 5G solutions to tackle crucial environmental problems by reducing, for example, traffic congestion and CO2 emissions through 5G communications and connected vehicle technology.

Another keynote speaker at the event was Dr Fabrizio Cortesi, Director of Strategy and Cooperation for Huawei Europe’s Wireless Networks division, who said the trends in the telecoms sector up to 2025 offered benefits, including bringing about safer roads and a cleaner environment.

Cutting congestion in cities meant safer roads while savings on fuel consumption would improve air quality.

He defined  “connectivity of transport” as meaning that vehicles would increasingly be connected to each other, to road infrastructure and to the internet.

He said: “5G is green and it offers unrivalled opportunities for climate change mitigation.

“We have a future-proof technology in C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything), which works best with 5G, and we trust that the European Commission will fully integrate, what will soon become the global standard for connected cars, into its forthcoming Delegated Act for Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS).”

He said 5G would be a key “enabler” in achieving the new trends outlined at the event.

“5G can make the world greener and bring improvements everywhere, not least because it is extremely power efficient.”

The European Commission is now rethinking its C-ITS legislation before re-submitting it to the European Council by the end of the year. 

“This is an opportunity for Europe to introduce legislation that will allow it to join China and the US at the forefront of innovation in connected vehicles, as we enter the 5G era,” said Cortesi.

By fully utilizing 5G, intelligent connected cars, IoT, quantum computing and other smart technologies, a healthy intelligent transport system can help ease the lives of busy urban residents, reducing travel costs and journey times, and boosting efficiency across European cities, as well as reducing the number of accidents and deaths on the continent’s roads.