How would you briefly outline the roadmap for 5G in industry? When can we expect to see widespread use of the technology?

Haas: Now that the 3GPPP standardization for 5G Release 16 has largely been completed and this specifies key features for industrial applications (including uRLLC - "Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication"), we can expect the first commercial availability for the network infrastructure from the second half of 2021.
The availability of chipsets/modules, which are required to equip devices of all kinds, including machines, must be viewed in a more differentiated way.

Currently available modules are derived from chipsets for smartphones, which are very universal and designed with a broad performance spectrum for the end customer sector.

Specific modules for industrial applications or low-power versions for sensor systems (IIoT) can be expected in 1 to 2 years.
Broad application scenarios are therefore more a question of the maturity of the ecosystem - infrastructure is usually available earlier.

Walter Haas is CTO of Huawei.

© Huawei

Why should companies rely on 5G campus networks? Aren't other technologies - such as Wi-Fi 6 - a better or more cost-effective alternative?

At Huawei, we assume a mix of technologies anyway and have integrated WIFI 6 as well as TSN (Time Sensitive Networks) technologies into our overall 5G concept for industrial applications. WIFI 6, which incidentally has a number of basic technologies in common with 5G, actually brings significant improvements compared to its predecessors - for example in terms of uninterrupted handover between WIFI cells. It is therefore a cost-effective yet high-performance solution for a number of applications in the "non-real-time" sector.

But where short and deterministic latency times and high availability are required, this is clearly the domain of 5G.

What is the USP of 5G? What role does the keyword "new business models" play here?

The main USP lies in the nature of the matter itself - it is "wireless" communication - also with high performance and industry-specific features.

The reduction of wired factory networking, for example in large production lines in the automotive industry, enables significant cost reductions while simultaneously increasing flexibility.
A factory of the future with a large number of AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) is not really conceivable without reliable mobile communication such as that offered by 5G.
Topics such as cloudification and edge computing should also be seen in the context of 5G. Large and internationally active companies are certainly in a position to implement a transformation in this direction on their own. However, medium-sized companies are more likely to need support from service providers, including new business models for planning, setting up and operating such networks. These can be established companies that are expanding their range of expertise accordingly, but also new companies, such as mobile network operators, that have corresponding ambitions.

What experiences have you had with your customers regarding the "spying aspect" that Huawei is confronted with in the western world? How do you intend to tackle this trust issue?

Information security and data protection are of course of central importance in our networked world and therefore an important factor for us and our customers, and not just since the essentially politically motivated debate surrounding our company.

Here I would like to point out and emphasize that in the more than 30 years that we have been providing our customers with first-class products and services, there has not been a single relevant "incident" - the suspicions have remained without any evidence - and by now it should be obvious to everyone that this is about geopolitics and not about specific security issues.

We therefore don't feel any real "trust problem" with our customers, both long-standing and new ones, even if we are of course confronted with questions regarding the political and, in particular, the media debate. However, this can usually be resolved quickly through open and fact-based communication.

For many years, we have been contributing all our expertise in the field of network and data security to international standardization and, of course, we develop our products according to the principle of "security by design" from the very beginning. In addition, more than 250 of our products have security certificates in accordance with internationally recognized test procedures; issued by authorized bodies such as the BSI, with whom we have a very good working relationship.

In contrast to "geopolitical debates", the pragmatic triad of internationally uniform standards, verification and certification makes a real contribution to increasing information security and data protection, and we are demonstrably making our contribution.