Contributed Article
As both 5G and AI technologies continue to mature, GTI’s Intelligent RAN, Ubiquitous AI Project aims to explore existing synergies and develop combined use cases
At this year’s Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) in Istanbul, GTI launched a global recruitment drive for its Intelligent RAN, Ubiquitous AI Project.
The initiative is part of GTI’s wider 5G-A x AI Development Program launched at MWC Barcelona alongside 20 partners earlier this year. The Program focuses on combining 5G-Advanced (5G-A) networks with AI to drive innovation, including setting up open research labs around the world to collaboratively explore new use cases.
Founded in 2011, GTI (Global TD-LTE Initiative) is an international platform initially started to promote the development of mobile technology, focusing on adoption of time division (TD)-LTE. Over time, GTI has evolved and expanded its mission to include the advancement of 5G and beyond. The organisation currently has 146 operator members and 262 industry partners, all of which collaborate on the development of new 5G products and technologies.
Some of these partners, including the GSMA, China Mobile, Telefónica, AIS, HKT, Zain, Leju Robot, and Huawei took to the stage at MBBF to discuss the further development 5G-A and AI, and the progress of the 5G-A x AI Development Program so far . 5G-A, the next step 5G in 5G’s evolution, has already started to be deployed in markets around the world and is delivering new benefits for homes, businesses, and industries through improved network performance, sustainability, and AI integration. These AI technologies themselves are also advancing rapidly and increasingly working with 5G-A to enable smarter applications and systems.
To further support this progress, GTI’s 5G-A×AI Development Program has already seen the establishment of four labs where companies can experiment with using 5G-A and AI in areas like improving networks and cutting energy use. GTI and GSMA Foundry have also launched challenges to encourage collaboration and solve key problems in combining 5G-A and AI.
The Intelligent RAN, Ubiquitous AI Project represents the next step in this collaborative journey, with GTI inviting companies to jointly explore how to leverage these new technologies to enable intelligent O&M, optimise network deployments, boost energy savings, and create new revenue streams. It also seeks to support the mobile industry in better supporting AI use cases by promoting network upgrades and supporting numerous AI pilot projects in industries including transport, energy, and city management.
GTI encourages interested parties from across the telecoms industry and beyond to join the Project and further expand the rapidly growing collaborative community.