Huawei MBB Forum 2020: Key Takeaways

neXt Curve virtually attended the 11th annual Huawei Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) 2020 which was held from November 12th to the 13th in Shanghai, China. The theme for this year’s event was “5G for Good and Innovate for New Value.” Now that we are approaching year two since the first commercial 5G deployments, Huawei is now focusing on accelerating operator value by making deployments easier and faster, and fostering new-breeds of applications that will enable digital transformation across industries. Even in these early days of 5G, Huawei is looking at what is coming next. Here is what neXt Curve found out.

Tech Insight: The Myths & Realities of URLLC

It has been almost two years since the first commercial deployment of 5G and we have seen operators around the world embark on the deployment of the next-gen mobile wireless network. In these early days of 5G, use cases such as smart factories are touted as proving grounds for 5G’s disruptive potential, but we will need URLLC. neXt Curve is joined by renowned telco industry analyst, Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis to discuss the state of URLLC. What is real and what is hype today?

Industry Insight: The Intersection of Space & Tech

The space industry is undergoing a great shift with some winners, some losers and significant change in the landscape. While billionaire-funded entrants like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Amazon, Virgin Galactic are shaking things up with the incumbent space industry leaders, there are many other advances being made by smaller angel and venture-funded space startups with promising potential.

Industry Insight: When Apple Goes 5G, It Matters

“Hi, Speed”. There couldn’t have been a more glaring hint than the splash page for the special iPhone event held on October 13, 2020. As we all suspected, Apple unveiled the 5G iPhone. But it wasn’t just one phone. It was the entire iPhone 12 line up configured with what can only be the latest 5G modem and RF module. If anything, this line up is a shot in the arm for 5G that has suffered a lackluster start and growing doubt about its value to the average consumer. This is what operators around the globe have been waiting for, the 5G iPhone.

Tech Insight: Converged IT/CT Service Placement

With the advent of Release 16 of 3GPP’s 5G technical specification and the introduction of SA (Standalone) 5G NR, operators can now explore the benefits of E2E network slicing. It will be critical in enabling dynamic placement of network functions across mobile network edge. But 5G is also about MEC which will converge the pipe with compute.

Industry Insight: Rakuten Rolls Out 5G

Rakuten recently launched their long-waited and highly-anticipated 5G network service. Despite a Covid-19 induced delay, Rakuten has managed to put up a 5G network in a very short time. The jury is out as to whether they have succeeded but one thing is for certain, Rakuten has proven that an industry outsider can put up a compelling offering with the help of new cloud-based and open technologies.

Tech Insight: TinyML

AI related technologies have been around for decades. It is nothing new despite the recent hype that has elevated AI to the forefront of the “digital” discussion. Why are we excited about AI? It is becoming increasingly ubiquitous thanks to some pivotal advancements in how and where AI can be deployed. TinyML is one of these advancements that promises to bring AI to the tiniest of things.

Industry Insight: Connecting The Remote and Rural

Satellite communications have become cool again thanks to a new breed of LEO or low Earth orbit satellites that are the staple of Tesla’s Starlink constellation and Amazon’s Project Kuiper which received FCC approval in July of 2020. These satellites are deployed in the thousands with the purpose of providing global broadband coverage.

SMB Resilience Amid COVID-19

You are a small or medium-size business in the midst of a global pandemic that is constricting your business as governments order “non-essential” businesses to shutdown and growing consumer angst crush business activity and demand. What do you do? What can you do to survive and thrive? For many industries, surviving will require businesses to dramatically rethink the notion of business model, go-to-market approach, supply chain, sales channels, people and modality of work. All of this needs to happen with the consideration of the health and safety of employees and customers against the persistent threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 5G Autonomous Edge: The Next Frontier of Digital Business Innovation

5G, AI, and the cloud are intersecting to unlock real-time autonomous capabilities at the edge. This evolution represents an inflection point for edge computing and a new frontier for business innovation and reinvention. Discover the potential of ubiquitous intelligence, edge cloud computing, and autonomous infrastructure to transform our world from the age of digital business to autonomous enterprise.