Huawei in Collaboration with China Unicom and Peking University Win 2026 Leading Lights Award

• Huawei in collaboration with China Unicom and Peking University has won the Outstanding Use Case: Network Security & Resilience award at Light Reading's 22nd Leading Lights Awards for their project, Peking University CARSI 5G Free-Mobility Private Network.
• The solution is a 5G Free-Mobility Private Network deeply integrated with CARSI federated identity authentication and the existing CERNET education backbone — the first integration of these three layers into a unified architecture for secure mobile access to campus intranet resources. Users experience seamless dual-path access on a single 5G subscription, with no VPN client required.
• Following its official launch at Peking University, self-service activation through the China Unicom app — integrated with CARSI federated identity — reduced provisioning from several days to seconds and eliminated manual approval workflows previously required from university administrators, demonstrating significant replication potential across the more than 1,000 universities already connected to CARSI.

BEIJING - Light Reading, the globally recognized authority in communications industry media, has announced the winners of its 22nd Leading Lights Awards. The " Peking University CARSI 5G Free-Mobility Private Network," jointly submitted by Huawei, China Unicom, and Peking University, stood out among 151 shortlisted projects worldwide, winning the Outstanding Use Case: Network Security & Resilience Use Case Award. This recognition marks a new chapter in the application of 5G private networks within the higher education sector, according to the official website of Huawei. 

As AI-driven research and digital campus life accelerate across universities, faculty and students are placing greater demands on campus networks. Previously, access to internal campus resources relied on the traditional "internet + VPN" model. This approach carries security risks, including data leakage and account compromises. It also delivers a poor user experience, with high latency, unstable connections, and repeated login prompts. These shortcomings no longer meet the needs of modern universities. At the same time, conventional 5G private networks suffer from lengthy service provisioning cycles and elevated management costs. They are ill-suited to the high personnel turnover typical of academic institutions. Breaking through the security and experience bottlenecks of traditional VPN models — and enabling faculty and students to access campus resources securely and conveniently from anywhere outside campus — has become a shared priority in university IT modernization.

In response, Huawei and China Unicom have jointly introduced the " Peking University CARSI 5G Free-Mobility Private Network " solution — directly addressing the security risks and experience gaps faced by faculty and students accessing campus intranet resources from off-campus locations. The solution delivers a seamless upgrade in campus resource access: no VPN cluster, no annual license planning, no SIM approval workflow.

Zero-Touch Onboarding: Built on CARSI (Campus Authentication and Resource Sharing Infrastructure), the federated authentication system of CERNET (China Education and Research Network), faculty and students can activate the 5G Mobile Private Network using their existing university credentials. A single phone — without changing SIM cards or phone numbers — provides seamless access to the campus network, eliminating the need to install or repeatedly start and stop VPN clients.

• Intelligent Traffic Offloading: Powered by 5G intelligent traffic steering technology, campus intranet traffic is directed to the education network, while internet traffic remains on China Unicom's public network — both paths operating in parallel without interference. Users can securely access the vast resources within the campus security perimeter using 5G data from anywhere outside campus. Upon student graduation or faculty departure, access to the 5G Mobile Private Network is terminated in real time, resolving the management challenges posed by frequent faculty turnover and the continuous cycle of student enrollment and graduation in universities.
• Dynamic Lifecycle Management: Through automated service provisioning and lifecycle management, the solution enables self-service activation, on-demand enablement, and automatic expiration — significantly reducing the IT management burden for universities while matching the operational demands of high academic personnel turnover.

Light Reading judges commented: "This architecture — 'The university, not the operator, remains the sole identity authority' — carries significant replication potential. The solution leverages the existing CERNET infrastructure without requiring large-scale campus network modernization, and can be rapidly deployed across the universities already connected to CARSI."

The 5G Free-Mobility Private Network is now officially live at Peking University, covering the core scenario of off-campus access to campus intranet resources. Faculty and students enjoy seamless campus network access with a single phone — no SIM change, no number change. During a three-month pilot involving over 100 faculty and students, more than 70% of respondents rated the new service as superior to traditional VPNs in stability, latency, and ease of use. Service provisioning time was reduced from several days to seconds, and the private network deployment cycle was compressed from approximately three months to three weeks. This solution provides a replicable model for 5G private network deployment across the universities connected to CARSI, with the potential for international extension.

Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to deepen joint innovation with China Unicom across more universities — focusing on 5G-Advanced, 6G, network security, and AI-native networks (AIDN) — to advance the "network-as-a-service" vision in the education sector. By helping quality educational resources transcend campus boundaries, Huawei is committed to contributing a China-based solution and China's wisdom to global university digital transformation.