Huawei Technologies Co highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in creating new opportunities for network productivity as AI is set to accelerate the industry's transition toward higher-level network autonomy at the ongoing Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2024.

Yang Chaobin, Huawei's board member and president of information and communications technology products & solutions, said: "The telecom industry has kicked off 5G-A, while generative AI has achieved major breakthroughs. AI, as a foundational technology for network automation, is set to accelerate the industry's transition towards higher-level network autonomy and play a key role in 5G-A business success."

5G-A refers to 5G advanced technology, which is a crucial upgrade to the 5G network in functionality and coverage. For instance, 5G-A features 10-gigabit peak down-link speeds to meet increasingly diverse service requirements.

Yang also noted that generative AI is transforming information production, processing, transfer and exchange to create mobile AI opportunities and boost traffic, connections and services. This also means higher requirements for differentiated service experience monetization and automated network.

According to him, Huawei's upgraded autonomous driving network, or ADN, solution is now powered by the company's self-developed telecom foundation model. The solution will enhance the value of networks in three aspects: service enablement, network maintenance and experience assurance.

During the MWC Shanghai 2024, Huawei unveiled a plan to bring AI to networks. The plan focuses on building an ecosystem of intelligent agents in collaboration with telecom operators to increase network productivity. Its first phase looks to cover 1,000 site engineers and 10,000 sites across Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Jinan, Shandong province and Bangkok, Thailand, within six months.