Computing power networks connect the digital society. How should operators seize the new opportunities of the era?

Computing network is an emerging technology concept advocated by China's information and communication industry. Computing network integrates multi-level computing power, combines network information and user needs, and provides users with optimal resource allocation on demand. In the context of the digital economy, how should telecom operators seize the opportunities of computing network?

1. All parties in the industry focus on computing power network

New generation information technologies such as 5G, big data, VR, and AI are reshaping the entire social life model, and people are constantly stepping into an intelligent world where "everything is connected, everything is sensed, and everything is intelligent." In this world, data is a production factor and computing power is productivity. Faced with the urgent digital transformation needs of all industries, the next generation network transformation represented by computing power networks has gradually become a hot topic of common concern for all parties in the industry.

According to IDC's forecast, by 2023, the output value of the digital economy will account for 67% of China's GDP, and the global data volume is expected to reach 175ZB in 2025. These have driven the dense distribution of computing power across the network, rapid sinking, and the gradual realization of networking services. At present, the vision of the computing power network has been widely recognized in all walks of life, and the computing power network has made certain progress in standard setting, ecological construction, test verification and other fields.

The "Plan" mentions the need to promote the coordinated development of cloud networks and the integrated development of computing networks, which will be more conducive to the comprehensive development of the computing power industry in the future, support the digital economy from a single information industry form to the digital transformation and development of multiple industries, and expand the width of the digital economy's "ecological niche" in the entire national economy.

2. Operators use computing power networks to promote the development of information technology

From 2G to the current 5G, the information technology provided by operators has been constantly updated and iterated, and the traditional computing power behind it has played a certain support. In the era of surging computing power, the three major telecom operators rely on the construction of new infrastructure, adhere to the integration of cloud and network, further transform and upgrade in the field of computing power, and have laid out computing power networks.

China Telecom has made computing power network one of its key research directions. As early as 2019, China Telecom Research Institute began to study computing power network. At present, China Telecom will further improve the "2+4+31+X+O" cloud and big data center layout.

As for China Unicom, in October 2019, it jointly promoted the top-level architecture standard of computing power network with China Telecom and Huawei, and positioned the integration of computing power and network as the "Cloud-Network Integration 2.0" stage after "Cloud-Network Integration 1.0" (cloud-network collaboration).

China Mobile pointed out in the "China Mobile Computing Power Network White Paper" recently released that China Mobile will take computing power as the center and the network as the foundation to build a new information infrastructure that integrates multiple elements such as network, cloud, data, intelligence, security, edge, terminal, and chain (ABCDNETS).

3. Operators need to grasp policy guidance and accelerate the construction of computing power networks

According to Ericsson's forecast, global mobile data traffic will increase fivefold in 2025, of which 45% will be carried by 5G networks. Therefore, how can operators speed up the construction of computing networks to cope with the explosive data growth brought by new applications?

On the one hand, we need to grasp the needs of the "computing power era". With the in-depth development of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, computing power has become the core productivity of the information society. Therefore, operators also need to grasp the needs of the "computing power era", break through the traditional computing power model, and use the computing power perspective to meet the business experience of all walks of life.

On the other hand, we need to grasp the policy direction. As early as June last year, the National Development and Reform Commission and others jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the Computing Hub of the National Integrated Big Data Center Collaborative Innovation System", proposing to build a new computing network integrating data centers, cloud computing, and big data. The "Plan" once again clarified that computing power is a key factor in the development of China's digital economy. Operators need to grasp the policy direction and develop computing power networks in a healthy manner under relevant national policies.