Huawei Builds an AI Model for Telcos – MWC 2024

Huawei has launched a foundation model designed specifically for telcos.

The aptly named Telecom Foundation Model will help power sector-specific copilots and scenario-based agents, supporting natural language interactions to improve employee knowledge and efficiency.

The model could, for example, power an interface to help break down complex processes to call center staff. It could also provide multimodal assessments for use cases like service provisioning.

Unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Huawei's president of ICT products and solutions Yang Chaobin said the foundation model will “help carriers empower employees and improve user satisfaction, which will, in turn, improve network productivity."

In a later keynote at the event, Li Peng, Huawei's president of ICT sales and services, said carriers applying the model could use it to improve operational and maintenance efficiency.

Li Peng, Huawei's president of ICT sales and services | Credit: Huawei

Peng said in his speech that AI represents a “huge opportunity” for telcos. He offered statistics that by 2026, AI will create 100 billion gigabytes of data and increase traffic 10-fold. In 2026 alone, Huawei predicts that generative AI will produce over 250 billion images, which is 10 times the number of pictures that humans created in the past century.

Related:How Telcos are Using Generative AI - MWC 2024

As new AI-powered capabilities emerge, Peng said better infrastructure is needed, including new models for cooperative storage and computing between cloud, edge and device.

Peng said that by 2030, the intelligent economy will be worth almost $19 trillion and called on the industry to build a solid IT foundation for what he described as a more prosperous intelligent world.