As European countries are still deliberating over whether to allow Huawei to be involved with their 5G infrastructure, the Chinese telecom giant has decided to step in.
At a London press conference, Huawei made its case to European customers interested in using its 5G products. And Huawei executive director Ryan Ding kicked off the event by saying that the Chinese company knows what European operators want, and that it’s perfectly placed to meet their needs.
"In Europe, a lot of operators have limited site locations and resources," said Ding. "We are the only vendor that provides a solution to this. We welcome competition, but at the moment we can lay down our products on the table and ask: 'When will our competitors do the same?'"
New Blade AAU antenna
At the conference, Ding unveiled a range of new 5G infrastructure products. Each of the products aims to meet challenges European countries are experiencing.
For example, if operators are struggling for space to install an antenna, Huawei is launching a new version of its Blade AAU antenna. The new antenna can support 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G, and work under all sub-6GHz frequency bands.
Furthermore, 5G base stations can be "built quickly and directly in Europe" thanks to Huawei’s new super-light pole, which weighs about 25kg compared to the industry standard of 40kg. And only two engineers and a couple of hours are required to install it.
Ding explained that Europe’s biggest challenge is its fragmented radio frequency spectrum. Essentially, network providers bid for slices of the spectrum through auctions. This can make the spectrum extremely fragmented.
Huawei hopes to resolve this with an antenna with larger bandwidth, capable of supporting the coverage of several suppliers at the same time.
"We have tried to understand the requirements of customers," Ding said, "and providing a carrier aggregation for 400MHz is a very viable solution, especially in Europe, where in most countries the spectrum is very segmented."
Huawei was keen to demonstrate how it can solve Europe’s problems with 5G at the London event. And despite the company’s issues with bans in various countries, there is still confidence within Huawei that it still has a serious lead over its competitors.
"Last year, we were saying that we are 18 months ahead of our competitors," said Ding. "And 12 months later, I can say with certainty that Huawei still has that leadership."
