LIVE FROM HUAWEI GLOBAL ANALYST SUMMIT 2014: A world where connectivity has become a “fundamental need” will create “infinite opportunities for the ICT industry”, executives from Huawei said this morning.

William Xu (pictured), the Chinese vendor’s chief strategic marketing officer, opened the event by arguing that connectivity has become “a new element of production”, alongside availability of land, labour, capital and technology.

Upping the ante from the 50 billion devices that Cisco and Ericsson believe will be online by 2020, Huawei has forecast there will be 100 billion terminals interconnected by the internet by 2025, as ICT becomes more embedded in everyday life and across all industries.

“I hope we will forget about the existence of the connection, as connection becomes a part of our natural world like water and air,” Xu said.

Fan Chen, VP of accounting for Huawei, said: “A connected world clearly on the horizon. A connected world will no doubt increase capacity demands tremendously. But at the same time, it will offer infinite opportunities for the ICT industry.”

Citing forecasts that the value of the sector as a whole will increase from $3.6 trillion in 2012 to $5.3 trillion in 2022, he continued: “To participate in this opportunity, Huawei will continue to focus on its pipe strategy. We will provide a bigger, wider and faster pipe, to support the ever-growing, massive data traffic”.