Huawei Ushers in Smart Optical Network Era to Drive AI Growth

In a strategic move to boost the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with digital infrastructure, Huawei launched a new range of next-generation optical network products and solutions at MWC Barcelona 2026. The goal is to drive new growth in the AI era and achieve a full AI-powered optical network transformation. Bob Chen, President of Huawei's Optical Business Product Line, shared the company's vision for developing optical networks along two main axes: AI for networks and networks for AI. Chen explained that AI is used to improve network performance and user experience, while also reducing energy consumption and enhancing operational and maintenance efficiency. In turn, networks optimized for smart infrastructure provide the capability to accelerate the deployment of AI applications in both homes and enterprises. ### Boosting Network Quality and Efficiency Huawei's solutions focus on using AI to improve every aspect of the optical network, including: * **Smart Fiber Sensing:** This can proactively identify risks and pinpoint fault locations with an accuracy of up to 10 meters. * **Enhanced Network Performance:** AI-powered optical performance simulation models boost network evaluation accuracy and extend transmission distance by 20%. * **Improved User Experience:** Smart, real-time Wi-Fi power adjustment improves operational rates by up to 20%, even with network interference. * **Energy Saving:** Automatically adjusting ports and boards when there's no data traffic reduces average power consumption by 40%. * **Smart Operations and Maintenance:** A smart O&M agent can identify over 60 types of faults and help engineers resolve them quickly, reducing the need for home visits. ### Accelerating AI Adoption These advanced optical networks enable operators to build robust infrastructure that supports AI applications through: * **Optical Access:** Providing gigabit-level download links and 100-megabit upload links to meet the demands of home AI services. * **Optical Transmission:** Offering low-latency circuits of up to 5 milliseconds on national networks, 3 milliseconds regionally, and 1 millisecond for metro networks, ensuring optimal performance for real-time computing applications. ### Integrated Products and Solutions Huawei introduced a comprehensive series of Optical Access Network (FAN) products, such as: * Fiber to the Room (FTTR) * Optical Line Terminals (OLT) * Optical Network Terminals (ONT) * Optical Distribution Networks (ODN) In the Optical Transport Network (OTN) domain, products included: core layer, optical layer, and metro networks, all designed to help operators build smart and flexible UBB (Ultra-Broadband) networks. ### Strategic Vision Towards 2030 This initiative aligns with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T)'s International Optical Network 2030 (ION-2030) vision. This vision outlines the core capabilities, application scenarios, and a unified roadmap for next-generation optical networks, placing Huawei at the heart of the global shift towards smart, sustainable networks. By combining AI for networks and networks for AI, Huawei reaffirms its commitment to redefining the network experience, increasing efficiency, and supporting widespread AI adoption. This further solidifies its role as a strategic partner in global digital transformation.