What new developments have occurred in the 5G field in the first half of 2022?

On June 6, 2022, as 5G licenses were issued for three years, 5G development entered the "fast lane", promoting new progress in the large-scale application of 5.5 and 6G research and development. Below, the editor will review the new progress in the 5G field in the first half of 2022.

The fourth largest operator enters the market

Three years after the license was issued, 5G commercial use has officially entered the stage of the four major operators. On the basis of the original three major operators, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, a new major operator, China Radio and Television, was added. On June 27, the 192 number segment of China Radio and Television was officially released and trial commercial tests were conducted for internal users. This marks a new breakthrough in the integration of the national cable TV network and the integrated development of 5G construction of radio and television. my country's radio and television network has initially formed a new pattern of "cable + 5G" integrated development.

According to the operating data of the three major operators in May, as of the end of May 2022, the three operators have a total of nearly 900 million users using 5G packages. As a new entrant in the 5G era, China Radio and Television will promote the further division of the "5G market", which may promote the healthy development of the communications industry.

Plans to add 600,000 5G base stations

On June 12, the People's Daily reported that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will accelerate infrastructure construction and plans to add 600,000 new 5G base stations this year. It will also implement the "Ten, Hundred, Thousand" project for 5G industry applications, select 10 vertical industries, form 100 benchmark demonstrations in each industry, and build 1,000 new 5G industry virtual private networks to create an upgraded version of "5G+Industrial Internet."

5.5G enters a critical period of large-scale application

On June 6, China Mobile, together with 66 industry partners including Huawei, jointly released the world's first batch of 5G-Advanced end-to-end industry samples and the "5G-Advanced New Capabilities and Industry Development White Paper", marking the deep integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain, and promoting 5G-Advanced into the industry construction stage.

5.5G is the continuous evolution of 5G network, and it can also be said to be an enhanced version of 5G, playing a transitional role between 5G and 6G. 5.5G can use the 100GHz ultra-high frequency band to achieve a 10-fold speed increase, and enhance perception and large bandwidth and low latency capabilities, helping 5G to move to a higher stage. 5.5G for 2025 will provide ubiquitous 10G experience and 100 billion connection capabilities, and continue to deepen the transformation of the digital society.

6G R&D enters a critical window period

On March 22, the second "Global 6G Technology Conference" was held, and many experts spoke out, and made more detailed explanations on the technology and direction of 6G. 6G is no longer a vague concept, but a prospect to be pursued. The industry predicts that 6G will reach the extreme of unlimited mobile communication indicators, the 6G peak will reach 1TB, the overall capacity will be 1,000 times that of 5G, and the average user rate will be 10-20Gbps outdoors and more than 100Gbps indoors.

6G, which is oriented to commercial use in 2030, is still in the stage of vision demand research and concept formation. The direction and solution of 6G technology are still being explored. At present, many countries such as the United States, South Korea, and Japan have started to deploy 6G research. In addition to the three major telecom operators in China, manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, OPPO, and vivo have also started research on 6G technology. The next 3-5 years will be a window period for potential key technologies of 6G, which is the key to seize the commanding heights of technology in the communication field and cultivate the industrial foundation. my country has performed well in international 6G research and development, which has laid the foundation for the industry competition in the next decade.

Conclusion: With the implementation of the "14th Five-Year Plan" information and communication industry development plan, the future construction goals of 5G are clear. In the next three to five years, 5G construction will maintain a steady pace of construction investment. We are currently in the overlapping period of 5G commercial promotion and 6G research layout. It is particularly important to vigorously promote the commercial maturity of 5G and do a good job in the evolution of 5G Advanced for the development of 6G. ​