5G sets sail to create China's "speed"

1. Large-scale 5G applications are the key driving force for promoting new industrialization

Due to changes in the domestic and international economic environment and the arrival of a new cycle of industrial upgrading, my country's industry is currently experiencing a critical period of industrial structure optimization and adjustment and industrial driving force replacement. my country's industry is transforming from a traditional extensive growth model to an intensive growth model, from traditional investment, labor and other resources to a model that uses digital technology to improve the productivity of all production factors. 5G, as a new generation of information technology, is deeply integrated with existing industrial technologies and industries, becoming the main driving force for my country's new industrialization.

The large-scale development of 5G applications will effectively drive innovation breakthroughs in new-generation information technology groups such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing, promote the deep integration of communication technology (CT), information technology (IT), and data technology (DT), and build a new generation of industrial information infrastructure that is flatter, more integrated, and more comprehensive. It horizontally connects the industrial supply chain, production chain, and marketing chain, and vertically realizes the comprehensive connection of people, machines, materials, methods, and environments in the industrial field, realizing the real-time linkage of vertical orders, production scheduling, materials, and production lines, and the data closed loop of horizontal supply, R&D, production, and product services. It builds a data circulation environment for the entire cycle, the entire process, and the entire industry, and creates typical applications such as 5G+ quality inspection, remote control, unmanned driving, and multi-machine collaborative operations, promoting flexibility, unmanned operation, and intelligence within the factory, and collaborative supply and real-time services outside the factory, promoting the digital and green transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, comprehensively improving the quality, efficiency, greenness, and safety of industrial development, and accelerating the development of my country's manufacturing industry towards digitalization, networking, and intelligence.

2. 5G enters its final year, with global network and application scale leading

2023 is the final year of 5G application sailing, and it is also a key year for the large-scale application to "go deeper and more practical". In the three years since the launch of the sailing plan, my country has initially established a policy environment for 5G applications that is coordinated between the central and local governments. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Energy Administration, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Education, etc. have promoted the development of 5G applications through joint publications or collection of excellent cases. A total of more than 900 5G-related policy documents have been launched nationwide, forming an industrial development environment with all dimensions from application landing to industrial chain supplementation, strengthening and extension. 5G applications have achieved a transformation from "sparks" to "a prairie fire", and 5G network scale, application scope, and application depth are in a leading position in the world.

In terms of network, by the end of September 2023, the total number of 5G base stations in my country will reach 3.189 million, covering all urban areas of prefecture-level cities and county towns. There will be 22.6 5G base stations per 10,000 people, and more than 90% of 5G base stations will be built and shared. The number of 5G base stations in my country accounts for more than 60% of the world. The number of 5G mobile phone users reached 714 million, a net increase of 154 million over the end of last year, accounting for 41.7% of mobile phone users. The number of mobile Internet users reached 1.501 billion, and new applications such as 5G new calls and virtual digital people were actively innovated, leveraging the steady growth of traffic consumption, and 5G traffic accounted for 50%. 26,000 5G industry virtual private networks have been built for the industry, and more than 5,000 new virtual private networks have been added this year, initially building a "base network" for the service industry, covering multiple fields such as industry, ports, energy, and medical care, and initially realizing integration with the original facilities of the industry, building a stable, reliable, and secure new information infrastructure for the industry.

In terms of application, 5G presents a development pattern of "five improvements" in categories, quantity, subject, value and influence. According to the statistics of the sixth "Blooming Cup" 5G Application Collection Competition, my country's 5G applications have been integrated into 67 of the 97 major categories of the national economy, accounting for nearly 70%, with more than 94,000 application cases, and application projects covering 32 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. For the first time, all cities and prefectures in the country have been covered, and 2,149 medical institutions, 6,948 factories and enterprises, 691 mining enterprises, and 547 power companies have been applied nationwide, initially forming more than ten high-value, large-scale application scenarios and solutions such as 5G+AGV, 5G+machine vision, and 5G+remote control.

5G applications have brought significant economic benefits and social value to the high-quality development of all industries. In the coal mining industry, with the help of 5G technology, machines have replaced people in mining areas, and the average number of on-site workers has been reduced by more than 30%. In the power industry, relying on 5G to improve the photovoltaic absorption capacity, Zhejiang Province alone is expected to reduce about 13.4 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. In terms of influence, the "Blooming Cup" has held international tracks for two consecutive years, receiving a total of 126 entries from 23 countries and regions including South Africa, France, Russia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, Cambodia and Australia, successfully promoting China's 5G experience to the world.

3. 5G applications gradually enter the core control domain, and all links and processes become the trend

At present, my country's 5G applications are showing a development trend of "from periphery to core, from single link to full process, and from point deployment to sheet application".

First, 5G applications have gradually expanded from management links such as quality inspection and operation and maintenance to all links such as R&D design, production and manufacturing, operation and maintenance management, and product services. For example, Gree Gaolangang Factory has achieved full 5G coverage, and has created a 5G "dark factory" around 25 sub-scenario applications in the six core processes of the entire process of home appliance production, including raw material quality inspection, raw material online, finished product assembly, finished product quality inspection, finished product warehousing, and park management.

Second, 5G has gradually penetrated from replicable scenarios in auxiliary links such as machine vision quality inspection, on-site assisted assembly, and unmanned intelligent inspection to core control links such as 5G cloud PLC, 5G unmanned driving, and 5G collaborative control. Schneider uses 5G PLC to realize flexible production lines with a single changeover time of less than 15 minutes, ultimately saving 50% of the floor space and increasing output by 12%, with direct economic benefits exceeding 1.2 million yuan per year.

Third, 5G is gradually developing from a single production line and a single workshop of an enterprise to the entire factory, the entire group, and the entire industrial chain. Focusing on Jiangsu Era, the 5G production network will be extended to upstream manufacturers, product process parameters will be issued, on-site equipment will be remotely connected to the network, and the test data of each process will be monitored, collected and transmitted in real time. The process parameters will be dynamically adjusted to realize 5G raw material traceability, production capacity monitoring, process control, etc.

4. The 5G converged technology industry system has taken shape, creating a new space for convergence

At present, my country has initially formed a 5G integrated industry system represented by 5G industry terminals, networks, and application solutions. In terms of industry terminals, as of the end of September this year, China has released 214 5G modules, 235 CPEs, and 92 industrial gateways/routers, up 31.29%, 34.29%, and 87.76% respectively from the same period last year. With the release of the Notice on Promoting the Evolution of 5G Lightweight (5G+RedCap) Technology and the Development of Application Innovation by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 5G RedCap has gradually entered the commercial period. Quectel, TD Tech, Fibercom, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, etc. have released 5G RedCap modules. 5G has begun to seize the traditional 4G and NB IoT scene markets. The price of 5G modules has dropped from more than 400 yuan to about 200 yuan, a drop of nearly 50%. The price of industry terminals has also dropped from thousands of yuan to hundreds of yuan, and the terminal types have gradually enriched.

In terms of 5G networks, thanks to the launch of customized and lightweight network equipment for the 5G industry, the price of 5G core networks has dropped from the original million-level to the level of a few hundred thousand. 5G MEC and other network element equipment have gradually merged with traditional industry equipment, promoting the 5G industry virtual private network to gradually transform from the industry's "supplementary network" to the "base network". In terms of network product research and development, lightweight, customized, and open have become the development direction. The mining industry's 5G explosion-proof base stations, lightweight core networks, external capability service platforms and other equipment have gradually matured and begun commercial deployment. At the same time, the industry is also accelerating the development of 5G deterministic networks, and improving the network's carrying capacity for the industry's core businesses through technologies such as dual-transmitter selection and LAN.

In terms of 5G application solutions, solutions have become the "bond" and "value highlight" of cross-border integration. 5G application solutions have initially formed a two-tier industry supply system of "general + industry-customized". General 5G application solutions can be used across industries by modifying upper-level software algorithms (image recognition, image stitching, robot control planning, etc.), such as 5G+AGV, 5G+machine vision, etc. The main suppliers are operators, ICT companies, etc.; the second category is industry-customized 5G application solutions, which are mainly used in a single industry, such as 5G mine remote excavation, 5G power distribution automation, etc. The main suppliers are the original solution providers in the industry. At present, my country has formed a group of high-value 5G application solutions and high-level solution providers. In the first batch of 5G application solution supplier solicitation work of the 5G application industry square, 201 5G application solution suppliers participated in the application, covering 23 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government in my country.

5. The large-scale application of 5G needs to seize the new industrialization basis and promote it in a systematic and coordinated manner

Although 5G applications are showing a trend of large-scale promotion, they are still in the "climbing and crossing hurdles" period due to factors such as the relatively high overall deployment cost of 5G and insufficient visibility of its commercial value. The large-scale development of 5G applications is a systematic project with long-term complexity, which requires "two-way efforts" from both the supply side and the demand side.

From the demand side, we need to seize the opportunity of new industrialization, drive demand with innovation, lead expansion with benchmarks, and realize the large-scale replication of 5G. First, promote the integration of new-generation information technologies such as 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence with the industry's original information facilities, build a new industry information infrastructure, and support the data flow of the entire process and cycle of the industry. Accelerate the deep integration and exploration of 5G in the fields of enterprise production and manufacturing, supply chain collaboration, and marketing chain collaboration, focus on core links such as R&D design, production and manufacturing, and management collaboration, carry out 5G technology scenario adaptation verification, explore high-value application scenarios, and form a typical application template library and standardized solutions that can be replicated on a large scale by industry. At the same time, play the leading role of industry leaders and chain leaders to achieve the penetration of 5G applications from head enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises.

From the supply side, it is necessary to strengthen core technology research and build a high-quality 5G integrated supply system. First, encourage operators and other ICT companies and industry leaders to build a new integrated R&D system, strengthen core technology research and development and standardization, improve the certainty and integration of 5G networks, and realize the integrated R&D of 5G and industry equipment and systems. Focus on industrial equipment such as industrial robots and CNC machine tools, continue to promote the integration of 5G and equipment, reduce the cost of 5G networks and terminals through 5G RedCap, industry customized core networks and base stations, and form 5G general and customized integrated solutions for industry, electricity, mining, etc., and build a 5G integrated product system that can be promoted on a large scale.