Huawei Technologies Co said it will launch a complete set of commercial 5.5G network equipment in 2024, as part of its broader push to accelerate the evolution of the 5G telecom technology and kick off the beginning of the 5.5G era for the information and communications technology industry, or ICT industry.

The plan came as 5G deployment progressed rapidly over the past four years and is already yielding significant financial gains, and 5.5G will be a key milestone in 5G evolution, which is fast approaching, experts said.

Huawei proposed the concept of a "5.5G Era", which would protect telecom operators' previous investment in 5G, while also improving network performance by 10 times. This 5.5G Era would feature 10 gigabit peak downlink speed and gigabit peak uplink speed to meet increasingly diverse service requirements. It would also refresh the industry vision by using new technologies like passive internet of things to unlock a market of 100 billion IoT connections.

Yang Chaobin, president of ICT Products & Solutions at Huawei, said at the ongoing Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2023 that "With a clearly defined standardization schedule, the 5.5G Era is already poised for technological and commercial verification."

"In 2024, Huawei will launch a complete set of commercial 5.5G network equipment to be prepared for the commercial deployment of 5.5G. We look forward to working with all industry players to embark on the new journey towards the 5.5G era," Yang said.

Huawei has been working with multiple players across the industry on the R&D and verification of key 5.5G technologies. Significant progress has been made in this verification process, specifically for extremely large antenna array which underpins 10 gigabit downlink, flexible spectrum access which helps realize gigabit uplink and passive IoT which can enable 100 billion IoT connections.

According to the company, 50G PON is another key technology that can enable 10 gigabit speeds for F5.5G ultra-broadband networks, and is expected to be extensively used in homes, campuses and productions in the future.

Huawei has worked with over 30 operators around the world on technological verification and application pilots for these technologies, the company said.

The industry is still in its earliest stages of developing a vision for 6G, and only just beginning related research into key technologies. This is why many have turned to 5.5G as their milestone for future development. The 10-fold improvement in network capabilities in the 5.5G Era is set to enable numerous industries to unleash the productivity of digital technology, Huawei said.