Following the successful LTE Awards 2013, we speak to Weimin Ying, President of GSM, UMTS & LTE Wireless Networks, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, about Huawei’s win in the ‘Most Successful LTE Launch’ category.

Tell us more about your entry for the LTE Awards 2013

It’s been quite a journey. In March 2012, Huawei signed an agreement with EE to deliver and integrate LTE base stations into the network. EE then launched the UK’s first LTE mobile network on October 30, 2012. Sales of EE’s LTE subscriptions got off to a very good start with uptake increasing week by week as awareness of the brand and technology increased. About a quarter of EE’s customers live within range of the new network have now upgraded to an LTE plan. EE has also signed up around 1,000 corporate accounts with approximately 25 per cent of new SME customers opting for LTE.

Users on EE’s LTE network can now enjoy an average speed of 15Mbps for a wide variety of high-performance mobile applications and multimedia, including video conferencing, high-definition content transmissions, high-speed video downloads, and uploading and downloading of multimedia content on social networking platforms.

EE’s network is also bringing LTE to one of the most remote areas of the UK, which has so far not had the benefits of next-generation fixed and mobile broadband services. EE continues to build its lead over its rivals in LTE coverage and is demonstrating that it brings high-speed service to rural as well as urban areas.

What do you think made your entry stand out from the crowd?

 We have had a lot of experience with innovative commercial LTE rollouts. We recently built the world’s largest GSM/LTE 1800MHz refarming network using our end-to-end SingleRAN LTE/EPC solution, which integrated an existing GSM network and a new LTE network onto a single platform. This simplified overall network architecture, realised significant savings on expenditures for new spectral resources, and reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and carbon emissions.

By June 2013, we had won more than 180 commercial LTE network contracts and deployed 85 commercial LTE networks worldwide. Our LTE networks have a global business footprint on six continents, and cover more than 80 capitals and nine top global financial centers.

Since LTE was first being deployed, Huawei has played a part in numerous innovative deployments. In December 2009, Huawei and TeliaSonera launched the first commercial LTE network in Oslo. In September 2010, Huawei and Vodafone launched the first commercial 800MHz network in Germany. In September 2011, Huawei and Aero2 launched the first LTE FDD/TDD commercial network in Poland. And in October 2012, Huawei and leading Russian operator Yota announced deployment of the first commercial-ready LTE-Advanced network in Moscow.

How will your products evolve and improve in the future?

Huawei believes providing a highly reliable and consistent service experience will be the most important factor for LTE. Huawei’s “No-Edge LTE” strategy for opening up high-growth markets for operators by bringing users a seamless service experience with efficient, sustainable and profitable mobile broadband (MBB) networks. No-Edge Networks utilise various LTE, LTE-Advanced and other innovative technologies like CA Omni and SRC that enable users to enjoy high-speed MBB services anytime and anywhere.

What trends do you see ahead for the industry for the next 12 months?

In the coming 12 months, more than 200 commercial LTE networks will be launched. LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation will be the first commercially launched LTE-Advanced technology in the world. Additionally, more operators will choose small cells for HetNet deployments.

What are the biggest challenges the lie ahead for LTE?

The biggest challenges will bring with them huge opportunities. Mobile video traffic will constitute 80 per cent of all mobile broadband traffic by 2018 and will be a more than $30bn market. In the near future, mobile business will gradually expand into vertical market sectors like automotive, healthcare, consumer electronics, transportation, education and public safety. And the number of smart terminals will surpass the world’s population by 2020.

What impact has winning this award had for your business?This award has helped show the value of Huawei’s continuing significant achievements in commercialisation and innovation for LTE.