The World Broadband Association (WBBA) brings the Broadband Development Congress (BDC) to Shanghai

The World Broadband Association (WBBA) brings Broadband Development Congress (BDC) to Shanghai | Capturing Value from AI-Powered Broadband & Cloud

SHANGHAI, CHINA, August 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On June 25, 2026, the World Broadband Association (WBBA) held its Broadband Development Congress in Shanghai, focusing on "Scaling Intelligence: Capturing Value from AI-Powered Broadband and Cloud." The event convened global industry leaders to discuss AI convergence with cloud and broadband, industrial transformation, standards formulation, and ecosystem collaboration.

Leadership and Speakers
Opening addresses were delivered by Ke Ruiwen, Chairman of China Telecom; Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA; Artur Coimbra, Member of the WBBA Advisory Committee and Former Secretary of Telecommunications, Brazil; and Chen Rui, Deputy Director of the China Centre for International Science and Technology Exchange. Huang Zhiyong, Vice President of China Telecom, moderated the ceremony.

Keynote speakers included Zhang Ping, Counsellor of the State Council and Professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications; Miao Shouye, Senior Vice President of China Unicom; Shen Hongbo, CEO of Shanghai Spacesail Technologies; Bhupinder Singh, President of Vodafone Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa; and Chen Banghua, President of Huawei Optical Product Line.

Also attending were Li Zhengmao, Chairman of the WBBA; Zhao Houlin, former Secretary-General of the ITU; Boris Koprivnikar, former Deputy Prime Minister of Slovenia; and Brahima Sanou, former Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.

Key Industry Messages
Ke Ruiwen, Chairman of China Telecom, noted that China Telecom is committed to embracing AI, with comprehensive implementation of its "Cloudification, Digital Transformation and AI for Good" strategy. The company has strengthened technological breakthroughs in its "Xirang" integrated intelligent computing service platform, deepened its five-in-one intelligent cloud system, and established an "L-shaped" capability architecture to continuously enhance capabilities in computing power, platforms, data, models, and applications. It has expanded and strengthened its IaaS and PaaS offerings to solidify the cloud-network convergence foundation for the AI era, adopted an application-oriented approach to empower industries across the board, and continuously reinforced security capabilities to build a comprehensive AI protection system.

Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, noted that the telecommunications industry has entered the IQ Era, transitioning from a basic connectivity service provider to a comprehensive digital platform integrating AI, cloud, and computing power, with connectivity scale at the core of development. AI can help the industry reduce costs and improve efficiency, yet gaps remain in industrial transformation. To unlock the value of AI-driven traffic, three key priorities must be addressed: demand identification, commercialization models, and partnerships. The GSMA Open Gateway initiative enables AI value realization through open network APIs and standardized models. The GSMA has also established a Mobile AI Community Group and is collaborating with WBBA to integrate the industrial chain, unify standards, and mitigate market fragmentation.

Artur Coimbra, Member of the WBBA Advisory Committee and Former Secretary of Telecommunications, Brazil pointed out that the current AI industry is shaped by four major trends: AI-powered networking for cost reduction and efficiency improvement, edge-based small models becoming mainstream applications, the need for developing countries to deeply participate in the AI ecosystem, and the pursuit of both high efficiency and sustainability in AI infrastructure development. He further proposed six action directions, covering the development of broadband AI capabilities, assisting developing countries in bridging AI gaps, harmonizing AI and broadband standards, conducting talent training across all sectors, balancing regulation and innovation, and measuring AI implementation outcomes through social value.

Chen Rui emphasized that the digital economy has entered a phase of deep AI empowerment, calling for industry collaboration on core technologies and international exchanges.

Technical Evolution and Innovation
Zhang Ping highlighted that cloud computing has entered the AI-native 3.0 era, requiring Token-based metering models and deployment of cloud-native microservices, multi-agent collaboration, and digital twins.

Miao Shouye explained that broadband has shifted from "bandwidth first" to "value-led," with China Unicom driving transformation across connectivity, computing power, service, and security.

Shen Hongbo outlined Shanghai Spacesail Technologies' integrated air-space-terrestrial infrastructure roadmap, leveraging the "Spacesail Constellation" to fill global coverage gaps.

Bhupinder Singh urged operators to embrace AI-native architectures and expand multi-tiered ecosystem revenues beyond pipeline services.

Chen Banghua presented Huawei's AI-OTN and AI-FAN solutions for building all-optical target networks with embedded AI capabilities.

Major Releases
The WBBA released the "Manifesto on Advancing the Standardization of Intelligent Cloud System," joined by 10 member units including China Telecom, China Unicom, Huawei, ZTE, and Qualcomm.

The "Optical Fiber Industry Development Report" was launched, with Zhang Chengliang, President of China Telecom Research Institute, providing interpretation.

Five white papers were released: Evolution of AI Traffic and Its Impact on Broadband Networks, The GigaCity Index 2026, 50G-PON Converged Evolution Solution, The Construction and Deployment of Optical Fiber Networking in CPN, and Global Enterprise AI Agent Governance.

A panel discussion featured Ronan de Renesse of Omdia, Mohammed Azim Ansari of STC, Shi Jun of ZTE, and Affandy Johan of Ookla, exploring AI investment strategies and ecosystem synergy.

Martin Creaner, Director General of the WBBA, delivered the closing address, reaffirming the WBBA's commitment to driving innovation and collaboration in the global cloud and broadband industry.

About the WBBA:
The World Broadband Association brings together cloud and broadband stakeholders to maximize the social and economic benefits of digital ultra-broadband globally.

Contact:
Penny McCullough, Head of Customer Experience
penny.mccullough@worldbroadbandassociation.com

F Smale
INFORMA PLC
freya.smale@informa.com

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