An interview with Li Xiaotong, Vice President of ZTE Company
Within the quickly evolving panorama of telecommunications, we stand on the threshold of a transformative period the place synthetic intelligence and 5G-Superior applied sciences are converging to reshape the very basis of community infrastructure. Because the trade transitions from the standard cell web period to what many are calling the Cell AI period, we had the chance to interact with Li Xiaotong, Vice President of ZTE Company and Normal Supervisor of RAN Merchandise, to discover how these revolutionary forces are driving innovation and redefining the function of communication networks.
From connection pipes to clever engines
“We’re witnessing a elementary shift in how we conceptualize community infrastructure,” Li begins, setting the stage for our dialogue. “Simply because the Renaissance interval in Italy redefined artwork and science, as we speak’s Cell AI period is redefining the function of communication networks. Networks are not merely pipes for knowledge transmission—they’re changing into clever engines able to understanding, predicting, and adapting to person wants in real-time.”
This transformation is pushed by profound adjustments in site visitors patterns that few within the trade totally grasp but. “Whereas generative AI presently represents solely a fraction of complete community site visitors, its impression on community structure is disproportionately important,” Li observes. “AI interactions basically alter the standard 90-10 downlink-uplink ratio. We’re seeing AI purposes generate 26% uplink site visitors in comparison with conventional apps’ 10%—a shift that requires utterly rethinking community design ideas.”
Li anticipates the explosive development in AI Agent purposes, creating what he phrases “a brand new site visitors taxonomy”. Conventional architectures ought to evolve to accommodate AI brokers producing vastly elevated interplay volumes, with unprecedented calls for for each uplink capability and deterministic latency.
AIR RAN: Intent-driven intelligence at scale
When requested about ZTE’s response to those rising challenges, Li introduces us to AIR (AI Reshaped RAN) RAN—ZTE’s groundbreaking resolution for the Cell AI period. “The trade talks about ‘AI-assisted’ networks, however we realized this method was basically inadequate,” Li explains. “True transformation requires ‘AI-native’ structure the place intelligence is embedded within the community’s DNA, not merely layered on prime.”
AIR RAN represents a paradigm shift to what Li calls “intent-driven clever service fashions.” Not like rule-based programs that react to predefined situations, AIR RAN interprets high-level intentions and dynamically orchestrates assets throughout time, frequency, spatial, and energy domains. “We focus AI deployment exactly the place non-linear complexity calls for it most—in sign variations, site visitors fluctuations, and dynamic radio surroundings adjustments,” Li explains.
The technical basis lies in ZTE’s SoC accelerator and heterogeneous computing structure, which permits the trade’s first native-AI BBU. The business deployments of native-AI BBU validate this method: video service high quality points decreased by 80%, stay streaming uplink charges enhanced by over 20%, gaming latency optimized by 18%, and 5G base station each day vitality consumption decreased by greater than 12%.
Reworking enterprise fashions: From site visitors to expertise
The dialog naturally turns to the business implications of those technological advances. Li emphasizes how AIR RAN is enabling a elementary transformation in operator enterprise fashions—from site visitors monetization to expertise monetization.
“The normal telecom income mannequin is hitting a wall,” Li states candidly. “Operators as we speak face a vital problem: rising site visitors with out matching income features. To beat this, they have to shift to experience-driven worth propositions, prioritizing person satisfaction and revolutionary service fashions.”
ZTE’s method facilities on three strategic pillars that Li believes will outline the following decade of telecom economics. First, expertise assurance via what he phrases “precision networking”—exact allocation, notion, and analysis creating closed-loop optimization. Second, multi-dimensional effectivity enhancements spanning spectral, vitality, and operational domains. Third, value-based person segmentation enabling differentiated service supply.
“AIR RAN’s strategic benefit facilities on its means to determine and assure high-value situations whereas optimizing general community efficiency,” Li explains. “This permits operators to maneuver past commodity connectivity towards premium expertise providers—very similar to how cloud suppliers advanced from promoting compute cycles to promoting enterprise outcomes.”
Pioneering AI-driven enterprise alternatives
Trying forward, Li views AI Agent providers as a game-changing alternative. “With digital assistants and autonomous programs changing into ubiquitous, networks should evolve to ship predictable, high-performance connectivity for each human customers and AI brokers concurrently. Our AgentGuard resolution rises to this problem, enabling operators to supply premium experiences and unlock new income streams via optimized useful resource allocation and clever service assurance.”
As demonstrated at MWC Shanghai 2025, ZTE showcased AgentGuard’s prowess in dealing with complicated AI duties—corresponding to ordering espresso and posting social media opinions with a single voice command. This innovation drives the community’s transformation from mere “connection pipes” to dynamic “clever engines,” adapting to the shifting calls for of AI-driven companies, together with greater uplink site visitors and deterministic latency necessities.
Innovation philosophy and ecosystem pondering
When discussing ZTE’s place within the world market, Li emphasizes sensible innovation over ubiquitous deployment. “The trade usually errors AI proliferation for AI effectiveness,” he notes. “True worth lies in exact software the place it issues most—fixing actual issues quite than demonstrating technical functionality.”
This philosophy extends to ZTE’s ecosystem method. “Innovation emerges from deep collaboration throughout industries,” Li observes. “When our applied sciences span telecommunications to manufacturing to city infrastructure, we achieve distinctive insights into how AI and 5G-A create surprising worth throughout various situations. This cross-pollination drives breakthrough pondering.”
Sustainable innovation and accountable AI
Sustainability and ethics stay central to ZTE’s innovation philosophy, although Li approaches these subjects with attribute pragmatism. “Vitality effectivity is not simply an environmental concern—it’s a vital aggressive consider community economics,” he asserts. “Operators can’t obtain sustainable enterprise fashions with unsustainable vitality consumption.”
ZTE’s method combines {hardware} improvements reaching as much as 35% energy discount with complete AI governance frameworks. “As AI turns into extra pervasive in community infrastructure, we should guarantee it operates with transparency, safety, and correct oversight,” Li emphasizes. “Our AI programs incorporate built-in safeguards and human oversight mechanisms as a result of reliable AI requires each technical functionality and moral basis.”
Conclusion
As our dialog attracts to a detailed, Li shares his imaginative and prescient for the telecommunications future with measured optimism. “We’re coming into an period the place networks join not simply individuals to individuals, however individuals to AI and AI to AI,” he displays. “5G-A gives the muse for AI-native networks, however success requires specializing in instant worth creation quite than distant prospects.”
Via options like AIR RAN and AgentGuard, ZTE is actively shaping the transformation from connection pipes to clever engines—a journey that embodies how networks can serve humanity in an more and more AI-driven world. “Expertise’s true worth lies in bettering human expertise,” Li concludes. “This precept guides every little thing we do.”
This interview was carried out throughout ZTE’s 5G Congress and Consumer Convention 2025, the place the corporate showcased its newest improvements in Cell AI, 5G and 5G-Superior applied sciences to European companions and clients.