GUANGZHOU, China, June 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei, China Unicom Guangdong, and the Zengcheng Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau jointly held today the Lychee Live Streaming Festival themed "A 5G Boost for Lychees" in Guangzhou's Zengcheng District. At the event, influencers and live streamers used a 5G live streaming service to promote and sell lychees at several orchards. A 5.5G network trial was also conducted onsite during the festival; it recorded a maximum uplink speed exceeding 500Mbps. This represents the first trial of 5.5G during a live stream in China's countryside.

During the festival, China Unicom Guangdong made its 5G live streaming service plan available at the event. This innovative service is the first of its kind in China. The service meets live streamers' requirements for ultra-high uplink bandwidth, large network capacity, and high-definition videos, guaranteeing continuous, stable, and smooth user experiences. By using intelligent network elements and 5G slicing technologies, China Unicom Guangdong and Huawei have built 5G networks that are able to provide better quality of service (QoS) for live streaming service plans, supporting 50% more traffic and 4-fold faster uplink speeds (increasing from 30–50 Mbps to 150–200 Mbps) for standard users. Furthermore, the networks are built on Huawei's SmartCare integrated data platform, which enables fast fault analysis and delimitation to further enhance the experience of live streaming users.

At this year's MWC Barcelona, the 5G live streaming service won the GSMA's Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO) for "Best Mobile Operator Service for Connected Consumers", demonstrating that it is highly recognized by the industry.

Since its launch in 2022, the service has been used by over 300,000 users, and supported live streaming sales across a wide range of sectors, such as agriculture, tourism, clothing, and e-sports.

A media roundtable was held in the afternoon at the event, during which Wang Liang, deputy general manager of China Unicom Guangdong's Product Innovation Center, noted: "New tools are needed if we want to excel in new agricultural tasks. China Unicom Guangdong uses 5G network slicing and double-channel technologies to provide fast, stable network services for live streaming. "

Wang continued, "Moving forward, China Unicom will leverage technologies like 5.5G to power network innovation and new product development. We will also work closely with our partners to support the live streaming sales of agricultural products and promote innovation across the wider agriculture industry."

5.5G represents a huge improvement on 5G in many aspects. With 5.5G, downlink peak speeds increase from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps, and uplink peak speeds rise from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps. That's a 10-fold increase in bandwidth. With 5.5G, users are able to smoothly stream higher-definition content in 3D and interactive forms. 5.5G also makes it possible to provide differentiated experience assurances that are dynamically adjusted for different live streaming users based on their specific needs. Furthermore, 5.5G lays the groundwork for new consumer services, such as cloud phones, New Calling, and glasses-free 3D.

Hou Yingzhen, president of Huawei's 5G Marketing & Solution Sales Department, was also present at the event. He said: "Huawei will constantly innovate in products and technologies to both extend the benefits of 5G to more people, and support 5.5G commercial deployment. 5.5G will be vital for network infrastructure in an intelligent world. 5.5G will drive the live streaming economy in China and contribute to quality growth in both rural areas and the broader agriculture industry. It also has the potential to accelerate the digitalization of many more industries."