[Mexico City, Mexico, June 6, 2024] During the 2024 Latin America GSMA Mobile 360, Daniel Zhou, president of Huawei Latin America, delivered a keynote speech on "Create It Together, For the Digital Future", where he emphasized that digital transformation is accelerating in Latin America, all parties in the industry should work together to speed up 5G development and prosperity, and collaborate with next-generation digital technologies such as cloud and AI to promote the digital economy and sustainable development in Latin America.
Daniel Zhou, President of Huawei Latin America, delivered a keynote speech
The digital economy is becoming the growth engine of the global economy. According to the research, the digital economy accounts for 46% of the global GDP. In 2023, the global digital economy grew by US$41.4 trillion, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.7%, far higher than the GDP growth rate of 2.9%.
5G is an important infrastructure for the development of the digital economy. Until now, 5G is developing far faster than we can imagine globally. In the five years since 5G commercial use, the number of global users has exceeded 1.5 billion, equivalent to the nine-year development of 4G. 5G in Latin America is also under development by 3 waves. The first wave of 5G development in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico met the expectation, the DOU of 5G has increased by 1.9 to 2.7 times and the ARPU has increased by 3.8 to 8.8% compared with 4G.
Although Latin America has made some achievements in 5G development over the past few years, it also faces some challenges. First, Latin American operators' 5G development pace is slow, and business monetization still lags behind expectations. Second, 5G spectrum distribution in Latin America has problems such as high price and discontinuousness. Finally, the penetration rate of Latin America 5G terminals is low compared with other regions around the world. During the speech, Daniel said we can accelerate Latin America 5G development from the aspects of network, business, and policy.
High-quality network is the foundation of 5G business success. A Latin American operator started to invest and build 5G networks in 2022, and the annual revenue growth rate reached 15.3% by the end of 2023. Huawei's scenario-based solutions, such as Macro Site, Street Site, and Rural Site, can enable operators build networks with the best coverage and best experience and better achieve 5G business success.
Multi-dimensional monetization is the key to 5G business success. For the scenarios of toC, toH, and toB, operators have three monetization methods in the 5G development: traffic monetization, experience monetization, and diversified service monetization. Currently, operators in Latin America focus on traffic monetization. In addition, some operators have started to explore experience monetization methods based on cloud games and live broadcast services, such as latency and uplink requirements.
Favorable policies and ecosystem are the accelerators of 5G development. Brazil released 100 MHz continuous spectrum and converted 95% spectrum fee into network coverage obligations, which can maximize 5G services for everyone. In addition, the introduction of low-price terminals, the release of tax reduction policy, and the increase of 5G terminals distribution can greatly improve the penetration of 5G terminals in Latin America.
The development of the digital economy depends not only on the ubiquitous connectivity of 5G, but also on the powerful computing of cloud and AI. According to Daniel, the convergence of 5G, cloud and AI will accelerate the Internet of Everything (IoE), awareness of everything, and intelligence of everything, which can better realize digital life and production. In Latin America, Huawei actively cooperates with operators to explore 5G+cloud+AI technologies in fields such as mines, ports, and factory campuses, enabling digital transformation of thousands of industries.
Finally, Huawei appeals all partners in the industry to work together to accelerate 5G development in Latin America and explore more diversified business models for the digital future. Daniel said, " There is an old saying, ‘The future is not waiting to happen, it is created by us.’ Believes that in the near future, we will jointly embrace a digital Latin America with our efforts."
The two-day 2024 Latin America GSMA M360 Summit was held in Mexico City on June 5th. Policy regulators from Latin American countries and leading enterprises in various industries jointly discuss digitalization and sustainable development in Latin America focusing on cutting-edge technologies, industry trends, and innovative applications in the 5G field.