Huawei used GSMA M360 ASEAN 2026 in Kuala Lumpur to position AI-enabled networking, autonomous networks and telecom infrastructure as key building blocks for Southeast Asia’s next phase of digital growth. The company’s participation focused on agentic AI, digital trust, resilient infrastructure and new ways for telecommunications operators to monetize AI services.
Huawei is using the growing convergence of telecommunications networks, artificial intelligence and computing to make a broader case for what comes next for ASEAN’s digital infrastructure.
As an Event Partner at GSMA M360 ASEAN 2026 in Kuala Lumpur on September 9–10, Huawei participated in discussions covering intelligent mobile networks, digital trust, AI transformation and digital inclusion. The event brought together operators, policymakers and technology companies around the region’s transition toward more integrated digital infrastructure.
One of Huawei’s central themes was the emergence of agentic AI in mobile networks. Calvin Zhao, President of Huawei’s MAE Product Line for Wireless Network Solution, argued that AI agents are beginning to change both industry workflows and the requirements placed on wireless infrastructure.
Huawei presented Agentic MBB, its approach to combining AI with mobile broadband networks and services. The company says the technology can help operators move beyond network cost optimization toward new revenue opportunities, while its OpenAN concept is intended to support more autonomous and open network architectures.
The proposition reflects a larger shift underway across telecommunications. Instead of networks simply transporting traffic generated by people and applications, AI agents are expected to generate increasingly dynamic workloads, requiring networks to respond to service requirements such as latency, uplink capacity, reliability and real-time resource allocation.
Huawei has previously described Agentic MBB as a combination of RAN intelligence and adaptive air-interface capabilities designed to adjust network resources to different service requirements.
That direction is becoming increasingly relevant as telecom operators look for commercial applications of AI rather than limiting deployments to customer service, network operations or internal productivity.
GSMA Intelligence’s September 2026 research found that Asia-Pacific telcos are already active across multiple layers of the AI value chain. Operators in the region account for 43% of telcos participating at the infrastructure layer and 38% at the model layer, while they have launched more than 50 AI solutions for end customers.
The same research points to another emerging opportunity: AI token monetization. China’s three major telecom operators have begun packaging AI model consumption through token-based plans, creating a potential model for operators to sell access to AI capabilities alongside connectivity, cloud infrastructure, security and support.
Huawei and GSMA Intelligence also collaborated on the report AI and the token economy: telco role, telco value. The research examines how operators could participate further across the AI value chain through areas including AI consumption, intelligent routing and national-scale edge infrastructure.
The opportunity is substantial. GSMA forecasts that mobile technologies and services will contribute US$1.4 trillion to the Asia-Pacific economy by 2030, up from US$1 trillion today. The organization identifies AI, digital trust, infrastructure resilience and digital sovereignty as major forces shaping the region’s next phase of digital development.
Huawei also used M360 ASEAN to emphasize the infrastructure required to make AI adoption dependable. At the Digital Trust Summit, the company highlighted AI-enabled early warning systems, satellite connectivity and resilient networks as tools for improving preparedness and maintaining economic continuity during disruptions.
That focus is significant because the expansion of AI infrastructure introduces new dependencies on connectivity, power, cloud and edge computing. For governments and operators, the challenge is no longer simply deploying faster networks. They must build infrastructure capable of supporting increasingly autonomous digital services while maintaining security, reliability and public trust.
Huawei’s regional activity also extended beyond network technology. The company was recognized at the GSMA APAC Digital Nation Awards 2026 for its collaboration with XLSMART Indonesia on an integrated 5G SD-WAN solution for small and medium-sized businesses. The solution is aimed at simplifying secure connectivity across sectors including retail, banking and education.
The broader competitive landscape includes vendors such as NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google and Amazon, all of which are investing heavily in AI infrastructure, cloud platforms and enterprise AI ecosystems. Telecom operators therefore face a strategic question: whether to remain primarily connectivity providers or become infrastructure and service orchestrators across the AI stack.
Huawei’s M360 ASEAN message points toward the latter model. Its strategy combines AI-enabled networks, edge infrastructure, autonomous operations and new monetization mechanisms. The practical test, however, will be whether these technologies translate into measurable enterprise outcomes and sustainable operator revenue.
For ASEAN, the significance extends beyond telecommunications. As governments pursue digital economies and enterprises adopt AI, the underlying network increasingly becomes part of the AI platform itself. That could make autonomous networking, trusted connectivity and AI-ready infrastructure central components of the region’s next digital cycle.
Market Landscape
ASEAN’s telecom market is moving from a traditional connectivity model toward an AI-enabled infrastructure model. Operators are exploring 5G-Advanced, edge computing, AI agents, autonomous networks and AI monetization as ways to improve network efficiency while creating new enterprise and consumer services.
GSMA’s 2026 Asia-Pacific outlook places AI alongside digital trust, resilience and sovereignty as defining priorities for the region. Meanwhile, GSMA Intelligence reports that Asia-Pacific operators are unusually active across the AI infrastructure and model layers.
This creates an increasingly competitive environment. Huawei is competing not only with traditional telecom infrastructure vendors such as Ericsson and Nokia, but indirectly with cloud and AI infrastructure providers including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and NVIDIA. The emerging battleground is increasingly about who controls the infrastructure connecting AI models, applications, devices and users.
Top Insights
- Huawei is positioning agentic AI networking as a potential new revenue engine for telecom operators rather than solely a network-efficiency technology.
- GSMA Intelligence says Asia-Pacific telcos account for 43% of participating infrastructure-layer operators and 38% of model-layer participants.
- AI tokenization could give operators another route to monetize model consumption alongside connectivity, cloud, security and edge infrastructure.
- GSMA expects mobile technologies and services to contribute US$1.4 trillion to Asia-Pacific’s economy by 2030.
- Resilient networks, digital trust and sovereign infrastructure are becoming as important as raw connectivity as AI adoption expands.
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