The fourth largest operator enters the market, and the 5G market welcomes a new growth point

It has been three years since my country issued four 5G commercial licenses. During these three years, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, the three major operators, have made important contributions to the promotion of 5G. As of the end of April 2022, the number of 5G base stations built in my country has reached 1.615 million, accounting for about 70% of the total number of 5G base stations in the world. According to the statistics of operators' 5G package users, the number of users of 869 million accounts for 52.3% of the total number of mobile users in the country.

Now with the entry of the fourth largest operator, my country's 5G market is expected to usher in a new growth point.

Generally speaking, new players in the industry will use their mature technology and cost advantages to lower prices in the early stages, thereby quickly accumulating target users. However, this is not the case with the package standards recently released by China Radio and Television. The Wonderful Package starts at 38 yuan, and the 5G Wonderful Package offers multiple package tiers such as 158 yuan, 188 yuan, 228 yuan, 388 yuan, and 588 yuan. From the prices provided by China Radio and Television, the price advantage is not outstanding.

So, what are the advantages of China Radio and Television’s 5G?

Jointly build and use base stations and frequency bands with China Mobile

China Radio and Television has obtained the 5G golden frequency band n28. Compared with the 4.9GHz, 3.5GHz and 2.6GHz frequency bands of the three major operators, the 700MHz frequency band has a longer wavelength and better network coverage. It is worth mentioning that the 700MHz golden frequency band has wide coverage and low latency, and its signal quality is similar to that of China Mobile.

According to the co-construction and sharing agreement between China Radio and Television and China Mobile, China Mobile is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the 700MHz-based 5G network, and has the same right to use 700MHz as China Radio and Television. For China Radio and Television, this means a significant saving in construction funds.

For enterprise users, user demand is strong

At present, the demand of individual users has basically been saturated, but the demand for enterprise 5G networks is still very large. Specifically, industrial vision, AR remote assistance, remote driving, drone inspection, etc. that require low latency are all typical 5G application transmission scenarios. As the demand for 5G TO B continues to grow, China Radio and Television's entry is expected to open up this blue ocean.

Leverage content advantages and aggregate high-quality content resources

China Radio and Television itself has rich media resources and channels, and outstanding content advantages. At the 2022 World Telecommunication Day, Zeng Qingjun, vice president of China Radio and Television, said that China Radio and Television should build a national video cloud based on its content advantages and build media content competitiveness. The content business level can be combined with unique radio and television business qualifications and licenses, and can also aggregate high-quality content resources in the national radio and television industry.

The continuous advancement of the construction of the industrial Internet may be an important factor in China's radio and television industry's ability to overtake others. At present, the demand for customization on the consumer side is becoming increasingly strong. In order to meet the demand, companies usually produce more personalized products through equipment networking and flexible customized production. In the field of consumer electronics, the VR and AR devices spawned by the metaverse require lower latency and higher network speeds.

China Radio and Television cannot yet compare with the three major operators that have been developing for many years in terms of size, but its entry may promote the healthy development of the communications industry. Just as China Radio and Television has previously emphasized the creation of a fully integrated business system of "mobile phone + TV + broadband + voice + live satellite + X", China Radio and Television may inject new development momentum into the communications industry and promote healthy competition in the communications industry. ​