In the 8th Global Mobile Broadband Forum, which commenced in London on November 17th, saw together nearly 1,400 leaders from companies in the mobile telecom sector, several vertical industries, and industrial alliances from across the globe. At the summit, the Rotating CEO and Deputy Chairman at Huawei, Ken Hu, spoke about an entirely connected world and the growth possibilities that it presents for the telecom industry to benefit from, which are nearly limitless.

Outlining the potential, Ken Hu noted that there are around 300 mn LED streetlamps and over 20 mn shipping containers across the globe. He added that there would be over 1.8 bn water meters globally by 2025, and around 100 mn new bicycles are manufacturers every year. All of these are potential new subscribers of telecom services. However, so as to support a world that has all things interconnected to connected to some network, telecom companies should strengthen the performance and management of networks. To support the multitudinous requirements in the future years, networks need to be data-driven, application-centric, and intelligent.

He continued that it needs to be believed that everything can be connected and that these opportunities are real. However, so as to seize the opportunities, a new model is needed – a scale-out and scale-up approach, according to Hu. He recommended that first telecom operators need to scale out and provide more connections. This will help them generate revenue and help pave the way for expanding. Next, telecom operators can collaborate with partners to develop value-added offerings specific to the need of industrial applications.