Yang Chaobin, President of Huawei 5G Product Line Han Dapeng of Sina Technology
Editor's Note:
No one doubts the changes that 5G will bring.
The Internet of Things, driverless, VR, industry... the emerging technologies it has spawned are constantly refreshing people's imagination of a better life in the future.
We would like to regard this change as Thomas Kuhn's "paradigm shift": it still has many immaturities, even less than the stability of the previous generation of technology, but in the long run, it is enough to promote scientific change and turn over a new chapter in communication - that is, to change the world.
People can't help wondering: what are the advantages of 5G? What industries will it disrupt? How does the tariff change compared to 4G? What is China's 5G position in the world
On this occasion, Sina Technology and Sina 5G Channel jointly launched the "5G Talk" series of video columns, inviting famous people in the fields of politics, industry, education, research and application to interpret the development and landing of 5G in detail, and answer questions for readers.
Guest introduction:
Yang Chaobin, President of Huawei 5G product line. Responsible for Huawei's 5G planning, development, market, industry coordination and promotion.
He joined Huawei in 1998 and has successively served as the director of Huawei Wireless R&D Center, president of LTE product line, director of Sweden R&D Center, and Huawei Wireless CMO. He has made contributions to wireless R&D, innovation, market and other fields, and is also the creator of SingleRAN solution.
What is the impact of the US restrictions on Huawei?
After Huawei was restricted by the United States, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, paid attention to his statement.
He is full of confidence in Huawei's 5G technology: "Huawei's 5G technology will never be affected. In terms of 5G technology, other countries will certainly not catch up with Huawei in two or three years.".
It is true. With its scientific research strength, Huawei has won more than 46 5G commercial contracts worldwide, ranking first in the world.
Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei 5G product line, admitted in an exclusive interview with Sina 5G video that although the United States has imposed restrictions on Huawei, "in terms of 5G, it has no impact on us". Huawei has always adhered to the "multi supplier strategy" in its supplier strategy. "For any component, we will consider that it comes from different suppliers, from different countries, and the United States also has our suppliers.".
He believes that the whole mobile communication should be regarded as a whole set of ecosystem, which requires the joint participation of all manufacturers in the world. Only by participating together, can a global unified standard be formed. Therefore, in the process of 5G standard formulation, no matter Chinese manufacturers, European manufacturers or American manufacturers, they have jointly formulated a unified standard for 3GPP. The standard formulated will be competitive only if everyone contributes all their innovative achievements, "Therefore, I believe that Huawei has a cooperative relationship with European, American and other manufacturers in terms of industrial construction, and we also have a competitive relationship in the market.".
5G mobile phones are expensive. Will they be cheaper next year?
In the 5G era, if consumers want to experience 5G network speed, they must buy 5G mobile phones to replace their 4G mobile phones. There is no doubt that this is regarded by manufacturers as the next driving force to drive users to change their machines, and it has also become the source of gaining incremental users.
However, at present, the price of 5G mobile phones is generally high, which makes many consumers "flinch".
Yang Chaobin believes that the reason why 5G mobile phones are high is that when the new generation communication network starts to be commercially available, terminal manufacturers will start from the flagship machine, so the price will be very high. "I believe that with the large-scale commercial use of 5G, all terminal manufacturers will certainly expand 5G terminals from the flagship machine to the mid or low-end models. I predict that in the next year, the terminal price is likely to drop to 2000 yuan to 3000 yuan ".
Where do the 46 contracts mentioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs come from?
Not long ago, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang revealed at a press conference that as of June 6, Huawei had won 46 5G commercial contracts in 30 countries around the world. "This includes some allies and European countries that the United States has worked hard to persuade for some time. As for the names of these countries, I will not order them here, so as to prevent some people from getting upset after listening to them.".
Netizens left messages to praise Geng Shuang. Yang Chaobin elaborated on this issue in more detail: "Of the 46 5G commercial contracts, 26 are from Europe, and more than 10 are from the Middle East, followed by the Asia Pacific region, including Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Korea. There is another one in Africa. It has signed a 5G commercial contract in South Africa, which is the only 5G commercial network in Africa, and now it has started large-scale construction. ".
He also disclosed that Huawei has proposed more than 18000 5G patents. In terms of the number of basic patents of 3GPP R15, Huawei currently ranks first. "There are 2570 families of basic patents, accounting for more than 20% of the total, which is the largest among all manufacturers in the world".
How much will it cost for more than 10000 people to develop 5G this year?
As we all know, Huawei has long been committed to basic research and development of communication technology. The 2018 annual report shows that its investment in research and development is 101.5 billion yuan, accounting for 14.1% of sales revenue.
What is the investment in 5G R&D this year? The figure given by Yang Chaobin is: 10 billion yuan.
"As early as 2009, Huawei invested 600 million dollars in 5G research. This money is a special budget, mainly used for research on standards. Since 2016, the company has invested in 5G product development, mainly covering core networks, bearer networks, access networks and terminals. On the system side alone, the number of R&D personnel this year is about 10000, and the total R&D expenditure is more than 10 billion yuan. Of course, this does not include terminals. ".
The 10 billion yuan is mainly used in three aspects: first, human cost expenditure of R&D personnel; Second, there should be a large number of instruments and equipment; Third, product development covers Huawei's chip development and investment.
The following is Yang Chaobin's transcript of Sina Science and Technology Dialogue:
Sina Technology: How does the issuance of 5G commercial license affect the overall development of 5G in China?
Yang Chaobin: Now actually, China is in the leading position in 5G in the world in terms of research, standards, system equipment development, and terminal development. This time, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a 5G license, making it possible for operators to build the world's leading 5G network according to the license, which will inevitably drive the development of the global 5G industry chain. At the same time, based on the leading 5G network, it is possible to generate a large number of application innovations, so as to realize the vision of "4G changes life, 5G changes society".
In addition, from a global perspective, the UK, South Korea, Italy, Finland, Ireland and many other countries issued 5G licenses last year. This year, we expect that more than 40 countries will issue 5G licenses in succession.
Sina Technology: Huawei has signed cooperation agreements with more than 30 countries. Which countries are included?
Yang Chaobin: At present, we have signed 46 5G commercial contracts with operators in more than 30 countries. Of the 46 5G commercial contracts, 26 came from Europe, and more than 10 came from the Middle East. Then, other contracts mainly came from the Asia Pacific region, including Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Korea. There is another one in Africa. Africa is Rain in South Africa. It has signed a 5G commercial contract, which is the only 5G commercial network in Africa. Now it has begun large-scale construction.
Sina Technology: When did Huawei start to develop 5G? What is the investment?
Yang Chaobin: For mobile communication, from the first generation, the second generation, the third generation, the fourth generation to the current fifth generation, its intergenerational is very clear. In 2009, when we began to use the first 4G network commercially, Huawei invested 600 million dollars to do research on 5G. At that time, we didn't know how much 5G research would cost, so we decided to spend $600 million on research and innovation. But in fact, from now on, research and innovation can not spend too much money. At present, 600 million dollars have not been spent. Of course, the current investment in product development is not included here, and the 600 million dollars is only the cost of research and innovation.
Therefore, in the process of formulating international standards and 3GPP, Huawei's research achievements have also been fully reflected in the standards. For example, in the newly frozen Release 15 standard, Huawei has submitted more than 18000 5G proposals in total. If the 18000 5G proposals are printed on A4 paper, they will be 10 meters high.
Then, in terms of product development, we officially established the 5G product line in 2016 and officially launched the development of 5G commercial products. Therefore, since last year, it has just been mentioned that some countries such as the UK and South Korea have issued 5G commercial licenses last year, and customers there have also signed 5G commercial cooperation contracts with Huawei. Therefore, since last year, we have begun to deploy 5G commercially in some countries in Europe, South Korea and the Middle East. Therefore, from the perspective of product solutions, we have fully commercial capabilities from core network to bearer network to access network to CPE.
Sina Technology: Where is Huawei's R&D position among all manufacturers in the world?
Yang Chaobin: We haven't counted the number of specific proposals. Huawei's own proposals are more than 18000. However, in terms of the number of basic patents of 3GPP R15, Huawei has the largest number. In the 3GPP field, we now have 2570 basic patents, which can be publicly found on the ESTI website. The patent ownership of each company can also be found on this website. Our 2570 families of basic patents account for more than 20% of the total, which is the largest among all manufacturers in the world.
Sina Technology: How is the cooperation progress with the three major operators in China?
Yang Chaobin: In fact, since last April, Huawei, together with China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, has launched a 5G experimental network in more than 40 cities across the country. The purpose of the 5G experimental network is to explore the future 5G network construction mode, explore how to plan and optimize the future 5G network, and jointly explore how to do the entire site solution and the entire networking architecture in the 5G era. After more than a year of exploration, we have achieved fruitful results together with the three major operators in China.
Sina Technology: Ren Zhengfei said that Huawei's 5G is at least two to three years ahead of the whole global industry. What are the specific aspects?
Yang Chaobin: As President Ren said, the leader is 2-3 years. He mainly judges it according to some feedback from our customers. Because in Europe, we can see from some public media that many operators' CTOs and CEOs have come out to say that if they leave Huawei, the commercial use of 5G networks in Europe will be delayed for 2-3 years. On May 30 this year, Huawei, together with BT, officially launched a 5G network in the UK. The chief architect of BT also said publicly, "At present, there is only one 5G supplier in the world, which is Huawei. Other suppliers still need to work hard."
Sina Technology: What is Huawei's current layout in the European market?
Yang Chaobin: European operators have always been Huawei's strategic partners in mobile network construction. Our cooperation with European operators in mobile communication mainly began in the 3G era. As we all know, Huawei launched the SingleRAN solution in 2008. This solution was invented by Huawei and European operators through joint innovation. This solution has now become the standard of network construction for all operators in the world. Therefore, in the 5G era, Huawei will still maintain very good cooperation with European operators. As we have just mentioned, 26 of our 46 contracts in the world are from European operators.
Sina Technology: In which industry will the most obvious changes brought by 5G take place?
Yang Chaobin: From the perspective of the current 5G network capability, its application capability will mainly focus on two aspects: first, 5G can greatly improve the experience of consumer users. As measured with China Mobile in Hangzhou this time, through large-scale experiments, including in dense urban areas, suburbs and highways, the speed of 5G can reach more than 10 times that of 4G, For consumer users, some previously impossible applications will now become possible. For example, in South Korea, more than 1 million 5G users have been developed in the past two months. In fact, the most popular business for consumer users in South Korea is virtual reality.
Two weeks ago, I went to South Korea, where we opened a 5G open laboratory, so we also went to the scene to experience. Now in South Korea, based on 5G network, we are running virtual reality applications. From my point of view, the experience of virtual reality applications is very good. Applications like these cannot be completed in the 4G network era. Of course, 5G has just started, and virtual reality is only one of its applications. I believe that with the online Ready, a large number of application innovations will continue to emerge in the future.
Second, the main application of 5G is focused on industry digitalization. For now, it is clear that the bandwidth of 5G will be much wider than that of 4G, and the delay will be much shorter than that of 4G. At the same time, the number of connections that can be supported will be much higher than that of 4G. Therefore, based on such network capabilities, we believe that 5G will play a greater role in all walks of life. For example, for the Spring Festival Gala held by CCTV this year, the previous Spring Festival Gala has been broadcast live, and there should be an interview vehicle, which should be broadcast via satellite. With 5G, neither an interview car nor a satellite is needed for transmission. With a 5G modem, high-definition live broadcast can be realized.
Sina Science and Technology: At present, what problems have not been solved?
Yang Chaobin: As a new generation technology, it generally lasts for 10 years or even longer. Therefore, the 5G standard now completed is only Release 15, which is the first commercial standard. However, the 5G technology and commercial standards will continue to innovate and evolve in the next 10 years. Therefore, the 5G network capacity is the same. After large-scale commercial use, the network capacity will gradually improve every year, and new network capacity will gradually be added. For operators, there is also a process of network construction. It must start from large cities, then gradually expand to small and medium-sized cities, and finally to rural areas. Therefore, the whole network construction, the whole technological innovation, and the whole application innovation do not mean that 5G is ready for commercial use at the beginning. In the next 5-10 years, it will continue to evolve and build.
Sina Technology: When will the price of 5G terminals be accepted by the public?
Yang Chaobin: Now, 5G has just started to be commercially available, so most terminal manufacturers will start from flagship computers. Therefore, the price of the first batch of 5G terminals is basically the price of the flagship, which will be relatively higher. The cheapest one will now be below 600 euros. We believe that with the large-scale commercial use of 5G, all terminal manufacturers will certainly expand 5G terminals from flagship computers to mid - or low-end models. I predict that in the next year, it is very likely that the terminal price will reach 2000-3000 yuan.
Sina Technology: Do you want to replace 5G mobile phones now?
Yang Chaobin: If you want to buy a new mobile phone, you must buy a mobile phone with 5G function.
Sina Technology: What is Huawei's R&D investment in 5G this year?
Yang Chaobin: Since 2016, we have invested in the development of 5G products, mainly covering core networks, bearer networks, access networks, and our terminals. The terminal is our consumer BG, which is not included. We look purely at the system side. This year, more than 10000 people invested in the 5G system. Therefore, the total budget does not include terminals in the 5G system, and the total R&D expenditure exceeds 10 billion yuan.
The system side mainly involves several aspects: first, it is mainly the human cost expenditure of R&D personnel; Second, we should have a large number of instruments and equipment; Third, it is to do product development, which includes the development and investment of its own chips.
Sina Technology: How influential is the restriction of Huawei in the United States?
Yang Chaobin: For us, the United States has our suppliers, but we have always adhered to the "multi supplier strategy" in our supplier strategy. For any device, we will consider that it comes from different suppliers and countries. Therefore, although the United States has imposed restrictions on Huawei, it has no impact on 5G.
Sina Technology: Is Huawei a cooperative or competitive relationship with other 5G manufacturers?
Yang Chaobin: The whole mobile communication is an ecosystem, which requires the participation of all manufacturers in the world. Only when everyone participates together, can a global unified standard be formed. Therefore, in the process of formulating the 5G standard, no matter Chinese manufacturers, European manufacturers or American manufacturers, they have jointly formulated the unified standard of 3GPP. Because now there are more than 500 companies in 3GPP, which are from different countries in the country. Only by contributing all of their innovative achievements, and after full discussion in 3GPP, The standards formulated will be competitive. Therefore, in the construction of the entire mobile communication industry, Huawei has a cooperative relationship with manufacturers in Europe, the United States, or other countries. Of course, in the market, Huawei has a competitive relationship.
