Telecom
Samsung & Huawei: What Propels Telecom’s ‘Top Innovators’?
Samsung and Huawei are telecom’s most innovative companies, according to a recent Thomson Reuters global survey of patents and scientific reports, The Future is Open: 2015 State of Innovation.
The top two companies ranked higher than other big names, such as LG, Ericsson, Sony, and Fujitsu. But how?
Both have demonstrated that innovation requires an ability to invest wisely in your future, the courage to back the innovation process for the long haul and to be proactive rather than reactive to global trends. Of course, there are also more detailed reasons for their success.
The importance of Patents
The importance of patent portfolios plays out visibly with Samsung. The company has patent activity in all 12 segments covered by the Innovation report, as well as ranking in the top 25 patent assignees in nine of the 12 industries.
In 2014, Samsung invested a total of USD13.8 billion on research and development (R&D). It also maintains an Open Innovation program, which draws ideas from both inside and outside of Samsung.
Samsung also offers extensive training and delivers an innovation-based culture to its researchers, fully backed by management.
It guards the treasures well, maintaining vigilance against the theft of its intellectual property, as seen in the creation its own patent firm. The company continues to reinvent itself. And there is a goal to make products that stand out.
Samsung’s ‘relentless innovation’
“Few smartphone [Original Equipment Manufacturers] have the capabilities to really differentiate in hardware,” says Ian Fogg, Senior Director of Mobile and Telecoms at IHS. “Samsung is able to leverage its display division capabilities to create the twin curved screen, which makes the S6 Edge unlike any other smartphone.”
At the launch of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, CEO J.K. Shin explained: “These products are the result of a simple philosophy. It comes to two words: Relentless innovation.”
Huawei: Investing in innovation, partnerships
In comparison to Samsung, Huawei is a new kid on the block, but its strategies and fearlessness are paying off.
“Usually the conversation in the smartphone market revolves around Samsung and Apple, but Huawei’s strong showing for both the quarter and the year speak to how much it has grown as an international brand,” says Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager at IDC. “While there is a lot of uncertainty around the economic slowdown in China, Huawei is one of the few brands from China that has successfully diversified worldwide, with almost half of its shipments going outside of China. Huawei is poised to be in a good position to hold onto a strong number three over the next year.”
For the past 26 years, Huawei has invested at least 10% of its annual sales revenues in R&D, though this recently increased to 14%. Of this, 10% is dedicated solely to future technologies.
Like Samsung, Huawei is not putting all of its eggs into the smartphone basket. Huawei sees its targets spanning network, IT and digital infrastructure.
Its future will rely on joint innovation with partners to bring diverse vertical applications to market.
This includes cooperation, for example, with SAP and Intel on the Internet of Things (IoT), and integrating its infrastructure with SAP’s HANA big-data platform for IoT and Industry 4.0 segments, and with Sony and Harmonic to promote the E2E commercialization of 4K videos.
Huawei also plays a leading role in the SDN alliance and works with Stanford University and AT&T establishing ONOS, the first open-source SDN organization.
Huawei has elevated its reputation through its partnership with Google, making Google’s flagship Nexus smartphones, including the Nexus 6P.
“Clearly working with Google is a vote of confidence in the technology of the product,” says Fogg, adding that the partnership “opens up a route into the U.S. market to raise visibility for Huawei smartphones.” The Nexus devices, he says, “are intended to be showcases of the best of Android technology, and are designed to be seen as innovation leaders. That’s an incredibly valuable association to have.”
Huawei’s rotating CEO system
While Samsung basks in its ability to innovate hardware, Huawei is set up a bit differently for innovation. Most often the industry credits its founder, Ren Zhengfei – and the credit is well placed. Huawei, however, replaced the typical setup of one CEO, opting for a rotating CEO system so that three deputy chairmen act as the rotating and acting CEO for a tenure of six months, and form a board of seven, together with four standing committee members. Zhengfei maintains his CEO role, but also acts as a mentor and coach for the rotating CEO.
The system enabled Zhengfei to be more of a thought leader. He maintains a significant amount of influence in the decisions taken within the company, but he asserts the company can better make use of the collective wisdom available with this setup.
In addition, the company created Huawei University, where training sessions are given on conducting Huawei business and providing solutions. There is also a value training camp for new employees, where they are introduced to the core values of Huawei and learn that both individual and collective growth is possible by serving the needs of the customers.
Carolyn Mathas is a technology writer/editor for a number of industry publications. She writes for the LED and Wireless Networking Design Centers on EDN, and previously several DesignLines and CommsDesign for EE Times. The article was posted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Nigeria’s telecom operators recorded 155, 397 fibre-cut incidents between April and May 2026, and these they blame on why internet or calls suddenly stop working.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed fibre-cut incidents increased from 74 276 in April to a record 79 121 in May, bringing the two-month total to the highest level recorded by the industry.
This represents a 2 428% increase from the 5 934 incidents reported during the first quarter of 2026.
Vandalism remained the leading cause of fibre cuts, accounting for more than 54 000 incidents despite telecom infrastructure being designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure, a classification intended to strengthen protection of key digital assets.
Also road construction constantly damages fiber where iggers and machines tear up buried cables during road repairs or construction.
Even with all these, some state governments make it hard for companies to fix cables quickly across different areas with all manners of fees and levies.
The NCC designation provides for penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for offenders, but operators continue to face widespread infrastructure damage.
Proposed solutions, including Nigeria’s Dig-Once policy and AI-powered fibre sensing technologies, have yet to achieve widespread adoption.
The NCC is developing a cost-based framework for shared underground duct infrastructure, while operators are exploring AI-powered fibre sensing technologies that can detect cable damage in real time and improve network resilience.
Nigeria is pursuing ambitious broadband targets under its National Broadband Plan and has expanded fibre deployment to about 35 000 kilometres.
However, infrastructure protection has not kept pace with network expansion, leaving subscribers vulnerable to unreliable connectivity despite continued operator investment.
Standard Bank has partnered with Helios Towers to provide a $29 million Social Documentary Credit Facility. According to the financial services company, this transaction marks Standard Bank’s first Documentary Credit Facility structured in a Sustainable Finance format.
It notes that the facility will support the procurement and importation of telecommunications infrastructure and related services across Africa.
It will also provide payment certainty to suppliers, while supporting Helios Towers’ working capital requirements and infrastructure expansion programme, the bank adds.
Structured in accordance with the Loan Market Association’s Social Loan Principles, the financing is designed to promote digital connectivity and telecommunications infrastructure development in underserved markets.
This will help Helios Towers further expand its footprint and enhance mobile network coverage and connectivity across the continent.
Helios Towers operates one of Africa’s independent telecommunications tower platforms, enabling mobile network operators to extend coverage across multiple markets.
Standard Bank notes that the facility supports the expansion of tower infrastructure and services, increased network densification and improved connectivity in underserved markets and remote regions across the African continent.
It will also drive digital inclusion and tackle the digital divide while supporting economic growth and socio-economic development.
“This transaction demonstrates the power of innovation in trade finance. By combining a first-to-market Social Documentary Credit Facility with a cross-border funding solution, Standard Bank has supported Helios Towers’ growth ambitions while helping extend digital connectivity to underserved communities across Africa,” says Benoit Samouilhan, global transaction banker at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking.
According to the bank, this facility enables positive social impact by increasing and improving network coverage and connectivity in some of the world’s most remote regions.
“Reliable digital infrastructure is fundamental to Africa’s future growth and development,” says Alex Carter, group finance director at Helios Towers.
“This facility provides us with the flexibility and certainty needed to support our ongoing infrastructure investments while advancing our mission of expanding connectivity across the continent. We value our longstanding relationship with Standard Bank and look forward to building on this partnership.”
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will on Thursday convene a stakeholders’ consultative forum to review the draft business rules for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Nigeria.
NCC
The forum, scheduled to hold at 10 a.m. at the NCC Annex Office, Mbora, Abuja, is expected to bring together telecommunications operators, industry associations and other stakeholders to provide input on the proposed regulatory framework before its finalisation.
The commission announced the event on its official social media platforms, inviting interested stakeholders to participate in the consultation process.
The engagement is part of the NCC’s efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework for MVNO operations and promote greater competition, innovation and consumer choice in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.
Mobile Virtual Network Operators are telecommunications service providers that offer mobile services by leasing network capacity from licensed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), rather than owning spectrum licences or telecommunications infrastructure.
The NCC has identified the MVNO licensing framework as one of its initiatives aimed at deepening competition, expanding access to telecommunications services and driving digital inclusion across the country.
The consultative forum is expected to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to review the draft business rules, make recommendations and contribute to the development of a robust operational framework for the emerging MVNO segment.
The commission is expected to issue further details on the outcome of the consultation after the meeting.
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