Now is the time to go digital!

At the conference, industry leaders from Telefonica, DT, BT, KPN, LG Uplus, Orange, Turkcell, China Unicom, and GSMA, TM Forum, Cable Europe, SFIA Foundation, BBVA, and more shared best practices and discussed roadmaps for future growth.

 

Huawei’s Board Chairman Hua Liang gave an opening speech, providing a concrete action plan for telcos: “you can improve the speed and efficiency of business processes and legacy IT, deliver new capabilities and services, and better capture new digital opportunities. These are the benefits of ‘Going Digital’ for telecom industry.”

 

Hua Liang also highlighted research by MIT, noting that “when you are digitized, you can get higher efficiency, reliability, and cost savings; when you are digital, you can achieve revenue generation and growth.”

The world is seeing exponential growth in digital technology, driving the digital transformation of all industries. 5G is the next major opportunity for the telecom industry. Towards 5G, operators need network precise deployment and maintenance, and enable the development of vertical industries. These areas represent key market demand for the telecom industry moving forward.

 

“The process of digital transformation isn’t easy,” Hua Liang explained. “In most cases, it takes at least 18 months to get through the toughest period. In 18 months from now, 5G technology will be mature.” To successfully transform their operations, Hua Liang said operators should pick a scenario, start small, think big, align business and IT, and scale fast.

 

To better support operators’ digital transformation, this year, Huawei has established a Digital Transformation Practice Center (DTPC), which allows operators to practice and build digital transformation capabilities. Huawei will also build a common digital platform, initially applied in Huawei's internal applications, which will serve customers after maturity.