Wang Xiaochu: Prepare for 5G and avoid making the same mistakes as in the 4G era

Recently, Wang Xiaochu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Unicom, stated at a full-year performance press conference that in the 5G era, China Unicom will not make the same mistakes it made in the 4G era.

Wang Xiaochu said, "China Unicom will not make the same mistakes it made in the 4G era in the 5G era." For example, China Mobile had started preliminary 4G construction work before it obtained the 4G TDD license several years ago, but China Unicom's preparations were late, so the other two major telecom operators have had an easier time in the past few years.

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The major mistake that Wang Xiaochu referred to at the earnings press conference today was that China Unicom's speed in building networks in the 4G era lagged far behind the other two major operators, and there was a major mistake in timing.

Wang Xiaochu also pointed out that in order to cope with the advent of the 5G era, China Unicom decided not to distribute the final dividend for 2016 in order to prepare funds for the future construction of 5G networks. As the saying goes, food and fodder must be prepared before troops move.

This year, China Unicom's capital expenditure fell 38% year-on-year to RMB 45 billion. In addition to helping improve profitability, it also prepares China Unicom for the development of 5G.

Wang Xiaochu described it as "the food and fodder must be prepared before the troops move", so China Unicom began to prepare funds to develop 5G. However, he also emphasized that there is still some time before the implementation of 5G development because the technology has yet to mature and the government has yet to make clear standards.