Huawei signs global ITU pledge to help 120mln people in remote areas connect to the digital world

Huawei signs global ITU pledge to help 120mln people in remote areas connect to the digital world

Cairo: Huawei has signed a global commitment to join the International Telecommunication Union's Partner2Connect digital alliance, which will bring connectivity to about 120 million people in remote areas in more than 80 countries by 2025.

Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei, announced the decision at the company's 2022 Sustainability Forum, Connectivity+: Innovate for Impact. The forum explored how ICT innovation could unleash the business and social value of connectivity and drive sustainability in the digital economy era.

Speakers at the event included senior leaders from the ITU and United Nations, telecom ministers and regulators in Cambodia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and business leaders, partners, experts, and customers from China, South Africa, Belgium, and Germany.

"It is clear connectivity alone is not enough. It must be affordable, the content must be relevant and in the local language, and users must have the skills to make best use of it," said ITU Deputy Secretary-General Malcolm Johnson. "Thank you to Huawei for their support of the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition, and for their announced P2C pledges in the key areas of rural connectivity and digital skills."

Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, called for "multi-stakeholder partnerships" of policymakers, the private sector, academia, and civil society to