Overview
- At Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Huawei presented an AI‑centric target network that treats connecting to the network as accessing distributed compute and promotes real‑time, uplink‑heavy interaction for agentic AI.
- Huawei and China's three major carriers announced 5G‑A features focused on high uplink, guaranteed connectivity and experience monetization to support devices with heavy uplink needs, such as AI glasses.
- China Tower said it will use its 6.2 million base‑station footprint, including 3.28 million 5G sites, to extend coverage into high altitudes, oceans and deserts as part of a multi‑domain ‘air‑space‑ground‑sea’ plan.
- Vendors cited spectrum strategy for the push, naming Upper‑6 GHz (U6 GHz) as a preferred band and saying commercial U6 GHz 5G‑A rollouts are expected in 2026 in the Middle East and select Chinese regions; these timing and deployment claims come from industry statements rather than independent verification.
- Huawei framed the changes as a response to rapid AI growth — it projected large numbers of AI agents and said 5G‑A and token monetization could raise average revenue per user, but carriers will need to pilot high‑uplink services and integrate compute with networks before those business models scale.