LIVE FROM MWC SHANGHAI 2024: China Unicom chairman Chen Zhongyue (pictured) outlined the operator’s vision to emerge as a true tech services company by combining new computational power driven by AI with its strength as a communications service provider forging new partnerships.

“We want to ensure we innovate not only in computing using AI technology, but also want to continue to innovate on the network side” through joint development projects and collaboration with industry players, he explained.

Chen noted that while uptake of broadband services inched up just 2.3 per cent last year after growth peaked at about 30 per cent in 2014, intelligent data service revenue is soaring, although it accounts for only a small fraction of total revenue.

He encouraged operators to work together to develop new ways to revive growth in communication services.

China Unicom is pushing to promote the implementation of the Open Gateway initiative in China to “accelerate the power of 5G this year”, he said. The company is working on an Open Gateway rollout action plan to develop industry best practices and scale up the application of the open platform. 

The company also recently released its 5G-Advanced roadmap, with an eye to boosting network capabilities to enable more industries to benefit from the technology.