The chief expert for Huawei's Middle East area explained that there are problems with networks' throughput, visualization, and download speeds, and these problems need to be solved.
Huawei, a Chinese multinational telecommunications corporation, believes that the existing telecommunications infrastructure is inadequate to meet the Metaverse requirements but that 5G and 6G networks might be.
Abhinav Purohit who works as the Chief Expert in Huawei's Middle East’s, made the observations (1). On December 20, he released a three-part blog series that concentrated on the promise of the Metaverse industry and where telecoms will come into the scenario.
In describing what the Metaverse is or what its actualization will look like, Purohit outlined that a "metaverse is a collective virtual shared space" that will "allow geographically distant participants to enjoy realistic, spatially-aware experiences that seamlessly blend virtual content in a user's physical world."
In addition, he stated that the concept of an open Metaverse has a strong connection to the Web3 movement because it will be possible to have in-built economics thanks to "digital currencies & non-fungible tokens (NFTs)."
Quick Advances Required to Bridge the Gap
It is likely that several elements, including download speeds, streaming quality, mobile devices, and Metaverse hardware, will require quick advances to actualize such a vision. He stated that this would be necessary to create a virtual sphere that can be navigated easily.
According to Purohit, to provide a fully polished and immersive experience, several technological improvements need to occur. He made the following comment:
"Innovations in sectors such as hybrid local and remote real-time rendering, video compression, edge computing, and cross-layer visibility will be required to deliver such an experience,"
Additionally, he thinks that there will be a need for modifications to cellular standards, network optimizations, and an improvement in the latency between devices and mobile networks.
The Main Challenges Faced by Networks
According to Purohit, the primary challenges that are preventing metaverse networks from reaching their full potential at the moment are latency (the responsiveness of a network), symmetric bandwidth (the speed at which data moves), and quality of experience (network throughput).
In the end, he concludes that the widespread use of 5G networks will significantly boost bandwidth while simultaneously reducing connection contention and latency and that adoption of 6G networks will enhance throughput by an additional order of magnitude.
Current Standing of Networds
To put the speeds of 5G networks into perspective in comparison to those of fixed wireless broadband, it is said that 5G can reach speeds of one gigabyte per second (MBps). According to data (2) from High-Speed Internet, these download speeds are significantly higher than the average national download speed for the United States, which is 119.03 MBps.
When viewed from the outside of the Metaverse, it appears that there is a massive push to get 5G fully functional globally. According to data (3) from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), as of August 2022, 501 companies in 153 nations and regions were investing in 5G technology.
According to the data provided by the GSA, 222 of these 501 operators have already offered 5G phone networks in 89 nations and territories. These countries and territories are located all over the world. It is currently unknown whether or not 5G will be able to support a fully scaled Metaverse, given that it has not yet been completely pushed out and embraced as the mobile standard in every region of the world.
