Imagine ultrasmart container ports where a 5G network is deployed to remote-control gantry cranes and seamlessly transfers shipping containers from freight trains onto ships, and vice versa.
Imagine a flexible factory production line powered by a private 5G network able to quickly change configuration to a Lego-style-assembly work island that can reduce production times from more than a week to a few hours, and cut down investment in the production line by as much as 40%.
What about combining superfast internet and artificial intelligence (AI) in mines to connect to a network, 300m down a mineshaft, equipped with cameras that can stream a live-video link, allowing workers above ground to remotely control underground operations and communicate with their colleagues in the belly of the earth.
Sitting in an office, they can launch intelligent monitoring of tunnelling, conveyor belts and monitor drilling operations for possible rock bursts to further safeguard those workers still required to go underground.
All of this is happening across the globe, including in South Africa, thanks to the deployment of the superfast 5G network in commercial operations.
In this country, which adopted 5G in 2019, two smart mine pilots were launched last year and, if successful, could be the blueprint for a revolution of the mining industry by deploying remote-controlled devices that can drastically reduce human operations underground.
Last year, Huawei and MTN partnered to roll out smart coal and platinum mines in Limpopo and Mpumalanga respectively. Nkwe Platinum and South Africa Zijin Platinum (wholly owned subsidiaries of multinational mining company, the Zijin Mining Group) signed a collaboration agreement last June to build the region’s first 5G-enabled smart-metal mine in Garatouw, Limpopo.
They have also partnered at Canyon Coal’s Phalanndwa Colliery in Belfast, Mpumalanga, to launch a coal mine whose operations will be monitored in real time using high-speed broadband, thanks to the mine’s 5G connectivity.
The commercialisation of 5G four years ago has made it possible for network vendors such as Huawei to partner with mobile network operators around the world to revolutionise industrial production and the delivery of goods through the use of high-speed internet and AI. There are more than 1.2-billion 5G users worldwide.
It has created a 5G-to-business market that has become a big money spinner for ICT firms and their mobile network partners. According to Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), the body representing more than 1,000 mobile operators globally, the mobile industry is on a fast growth track and China will become the first market to reach 1-billion 5G connections by 2025.
In 2023, this high-speed network has entered thousands of homes and is changing how businesses conduct their operations. Chinese operators have taken the lead in commercialising 5G, with 10,000 projects in manufacturing, mining, healthcare, logistics, oil and gas. The private network 5G-to-business is now a $10bn (about R190bn) revenue earner which has led to a $100bn revenue increase in cloud storage and platform fields.
4G and 5G will co-exist for a long time. 4G is a fundamental layer to growing digital technology in Africa.
— Edison Xie, vice-president, public affairs at Huawei
At the Mobile World Congress this week in Shanghai, China, infrastructure providers and mobile networks showcased their latest innovations. Huawei piloted the next-generation 5.5G network capable of speeds 10 times faster than 5G, at 10 gigabytes per second uploads. This will expand accessibility to generative AI technologies; glass-free 3D for virtual-reality devices, which requires much faster internet speeds; and speed up production of a new generation of electric and driverless vehicles with increased travel range.
It will also promote smart mobility using sensors deployed on major public roads to track speeds, provide information on weather conditions and full-view sensing activities. This can reduce road accidents by as much as 80%.
In her keynote address, Sabrina Meng, Huawei's rotating chair and CFO, said: “The digital infrastructure of the future intelligent world will be deeply integrated into every aspect of our lives, industry and society. It won't be based on advancements in individual technologies, but rather on incredibly massive, complex systems — the convergence of multiple elements. It's going to require systems-level thinking and design. When watching a chess game, you can see the big picture. But when you're playing chess, you focus on the details.”
But is Africa ready for these rapid technological advancements?
Many countries on the continent are still struggling to roll out the slower, 4G network, putting affordable smartphones into hands and smart devices into homes, and increasing digital literacy.
South Africa was the first to deploy the 5G network, with data-only operator Rain becoming the first African telco to make it commercially available in 2020. MTN and Vodacom have since commercialised their 5G networks and rolled them out across hundreds of network towers across the country.
There are about 5-million 5G subscriptions in South Africa.
A dozen other countries also moved fast into 5G, including Egypt, Kenya, Gabon, Mauritius, Senegal, Lesotho, Seychelles and Madagascar. However, spectrum availability challenges, regulatory uncertainty and the high costs of 5G-enabled smartphones for citizens has slowed down the 5G embrace.
Edison Xie, vice-president for public affairs at Huawei, who spent a number of years in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, says Africa needs to roll out ICT infrastructure at a much faster rate and make it much more cost-effective. He points out that there’s only about a 30% 4G penetration on the continent, a level too low to take full advantage of the digital revolution. If 4G becomes widely available, it can be used even in the absence of 5G to deepen digital innovations.
“4G and 5G will coexist for a long time. 4G is a fundamental layer to growing digital technology in Africa.”
Xie said governments on the continent must also make broadband services more cost-effective and work towards upskilling ICT professionals so they are able to innovate better and faster. A digitised economy can rapidly grow the economy.
In China, for example, the former now accounts for 40% of GDP. But for all this to happen, digital literacy must be ramped up in Africa.
“Young people must also be equipped with digital skills to enable to them to get jobs,” Xie added.
• Kgosana was a guest of Huawei at the World Mobile Congress in China.
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