GADGETS & SERVICES _2025-06-30

5G-A, AI to transform telecom industry

At the MBBF Top Talk Summit during MWC Shanghai 2025, over 150 industry leaders-including telecom executives, AI innovators, and academics-gathered to explore the growing convergence of ICT and AI. Huawei's Executive Director David Wang highlighted three major shifts driven by mobile AI: devices evolving into AI agents, the rise of AI-IoT as a new intelligent interface, and AI-powered networks optimising spectrum, energy, and operations. He called for industry-wide collaboration to unlock the full potential of 5G-Advanced (5G-A), identifying five key drivers: greater uplink bandwidth, diverse device ecosystems, multimodal intelligent services, expansive IoT capabilities, and new business models.

The convergence of 5G-A and AI is already reshaping industries. In manufacturing, embodied AI powered by 5G-A's low latency and high bandwidth enables real-time sensing, decision-making, and execution-boosting efficiency and reducing risk. On the consumer side, 5G-A supports premium experiences like cloud gaming and immersive streaming, encouraging users to pay for guaranteed quality of service.

In closing, Huawei's Li Peng emphasised that 5G-A equips carriers to move beyond traffic-based revenue and monetise user experience. AI agents are central to this shift, helping carriers deliver tailored, reliable services across sectors. Li called for AI-centric network standards to support this evolution.

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Axentec launches tier-4 cloud platform

Axentec PLC, an affiliate of Robi Axiata PLC, has officially launched Axentec Cloud-Bangladesh's first Tier-4, enterprise-grade cloud platform, fully hosted and managed within the country. Unveiled at a press event in Dhaka, the platform marks a significant leap forward for the nation's digital infrastructure, offering high-performance, secure, and compliant cloud services tailored for local enterprises.

Hosted in a Tier-4 data centre in Jashore with a secondary facility in Bhulta, Axentec Cloud ensures 99.99 per cent uptime and full data sovereignty, fully complying with Bangladesh's national data policies. The platform targets key sectors like banking, healthcare, logistics, and e-commerce-offering local billing in BDT, 24/7 enterprise support, and seamless hybrid cloud integration.

Key features include elastic performance, AI and developer-ready tools (GPU, containers, RDS), and a robust security stack with anti-DDoS, WAF, and encrypted backups.

ICT Division Secretary Shish Haider Chowdhury hailed the launch as a strategic move to enhance digital independence and drive economic growth. Axentec CEO Adil Hossain Noble noted the platform addresses long-standing concerns over foreign-hosted clouds, offering a secure, scalable, and compliant alternative for Bangladesh's enterprises.