It’s time to issue 5G private network frequency licenses

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently issued the first frequency license for a 5G private network in China to Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). This is the first frequency license for a 5G private network in China known to date. According to popular industry sayings, COMAC has obtained the first 5G "private network license."

The issuance of this frequency license means that China's 5G private network market has truly entered the "1+N" stage. As we all know, since its birth, 5G has aimed its main application targets at thousands of industries. After more than three years of development, the development trend of my country's "5G+Industrial Internet" has been on the rise: from the perspective of network scale, my country has built the world's largest and most technologically advanced 5G SA network, with more than 2.22 million 5G base stations, accounting for more than 60% of the global total; from the perspective of application scope, a large number of pillar industries of the national economy, such as aircraft, ships, automobiles, electronics, energy, and mining, have carried out "5G+Industrial Internet" innovative practices, with more than 4,000 projects under construction nationwide, and a number of high-level 5G fully connected factory benchmarks have been cultivated; from the perspective of future development, 5G is accelerating its promotion to medical, transportation, education and other fields, driving the increasing maturity of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, AR/VR, and 8K display, and driving the vigorous development of new formats such as the Internet of Vehicles.

Obviously, 5G has enabled and driven the digitalization of thousands of industries. However, as I wrote in a recent comment, although 5G has been applied in 40 industries out of 97 categories of the national economy, it is undeniable that 5G to B applications face the problem of too long a chain and a long implementation cycle. How to solve this problem, the development of 5G private networks is highly expected.

As for how to build a 5G private network, the industry has had many different views over the past three years of 5G development: some advocate "combining public and private networks", that is, 5G private networks based on operator-licensed spectrum; some advocate self-built private networks, that is, vertical industries build their own 5G private networks based on 5G private network frequency bands allocated to each market. Different views have their own reasons.

The three major domestic operators have launched many 5G private network solutions for the enterprise market and have made great achievements in the past three years. Currently, there are more than 4,000 "5G+Industrial Internet" projects under construction across the country, and the cultivation of a number of high-level 5G fully connected factory benchmarks is a proof of this. However, the "public-private combination" 5G private network model advocated by operators cannot solve the fundamental problems for many large enterprises; and those who build their own private networks also face problems such as operation and maintenance, frequency, and security.

5G private network is a complex end-to-end system that integrates CT, IT and OT. In the integration process, there is a huge "gap" in professional knowledge and technology between the ICT industry and vertical industries. To fill this "gap", operators, equipment suppliers, system integrators, cloud service providers, information technology service providers, vertical industries and other parties need to work together. Therefore, for enterprises, whether it is "combining public and private" or building their own private network, the development of 5G private network can only be based on specific needs and combined with their own capabilities.

From the perspective of the competent authorities, which model to adopt for 5G private networks depends on the enterprises themselves, but one thing is clear: anything that is conducive to the development of 5G and digital construction should be strongly supported. In the development of 5G private networks, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has an open attitude, strongly supporting operators in developing 5G, and also taking a scientific, open and prudent attitude in the dedicated spectrum for enterprises to build their own 5G private networks. The issuance of the first frequency license for enterprise 5G private networks in China to COMAC is the best interpretation of this attitude.

In my previous review, I mentioned that the government could use more proactive measures to accelerate the development of 5G industry applications, such as promoting the moderately advanced construction of 5G industry private networks and accelerating the formulation of 5G industry private network standards. The issuance of frequency licenses for 5G private networks this time has given the competent authorities a boost in accelerating the development of 5G private networks.

The fact that COMAC has obtained the frequency license for the enterprise 5G private network is of great significance, comparable to the 5G licenses obtained by the four major basic telecommunications operators three years ago. First, the issuance of the first license means that the country has begun to allocate 5G private network spectrum, indicating that the 5G private network market has opened the door, more companies will obtain licenses, and a new market is about to explode; second, it will truly enable 5G to play a greater role, and the 5G industry ecosystem will eventually explode; third, with the in-depth development of self-built 5G private networks by enterprises, it is expected that a pattern of coexistence of "operators" of various forms and sizes will be formed, jointly building a digital innovation ecosystem for the entire industry.

It can be said that the issuance of 5G private network frequency licenses is timely!