What kind of report card did the operators submit?

Over the past three years, my country's 5G construction process has continued to accelerate, integrated applications have become increasingly active, commercial scale has continued to expand, the industrial ecosystem has steadily grown, forming a system leading advantage, and writing a brilliant answer to the times.

5G has achieved remarkable results after three years of hard work

From issuing licenses to network deployment to large-scale commercial use, my country's 5G construction has achieved remarkable results in three years.

In terms of network construction, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first four months of this year, 190,000 new 5G base stations were built nationwide, and the total number of 5G base stations reached 1.615 million, accounting for more than 60% of the global number of 5G base stations. By the end of this year, the total number of 5G base stations nationwide is expected to exceed 2 million.

In terms of users, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the three major operators, as of the end of April, the number of 5G users reached 413 million, and the number of 5G package users reached 870 million, far ahead of the number of 5G users in other countries in the world.

In terms of terminal development, as of the end of March 2022, a total of 761 5G terminals in my country have obtained network access licenses, including 548 mobile phones. 5G mobile phone shipments have accounted for 80% of mobile phone shipments in the domestic market.

In terms of business revenue, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2019, 2020, and 2021, telecommunications business revenues totaled 1.31 trillion yuan, 1.36 trillion yuan, and 1.47 trillion yuan, respectively, up 0.8%, 3.6%, and 8.0% year-on-year, respectively. After the commercialization of 5G, telecommunications business revenues have achieved leapfrog growth.

In terms of traffic consumption, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first four months of 2022, the cumulative mobile Internet traffic reached 80.44 billion GB, a year-on-year increase of 22.1%. In 2021, mobile Internet access traffic consumption reached 221.6 billion GB, a year-on-year increase of 33.9%. The commercial use of 5G has driven a significant increase in mobile traffic consumption.

5G applications are diverse

With the continuous advancement of 5G commercialization, 5G is rapidly being integrated into thousands of industries and sectors, showing a trend of flourishing.

In the consumer sector, 5G messages and 5G new calls have appeared one after another, greatly expanding the connotation of traditional text messages and audio and video communications. Previously, the three major operators have launched a series of new products such as 5G video ringtones, ultra-high-definition video, and cloud games, integrating VR/AR, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing to enrich consumers' experience in game entertainment, event live broadcasts, and residential services, and drive the development of the application industry.

In the industry field, over the past three years, the practice of 5G industry applications has significantly improved in depth, breadth and technological innovation. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of now, 5G applications have covered many fields such as transportation, medical care, education, culture and tourism, covering 40 of the 97 major categories of the national economy, forming multiple typical application scenarios with commercial value, with a total of 23,000 cases.

Taking China Telecom as an example, China Telecom has leveraged the advantages of "5G+cloud network integration" to promote the coordinated development of To C, To B, and To G. In 2021, it will actively promote the deep integration of 5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data technologies with digital government, digital economy, and digital society, and create more than 1,200 5G customized network projects and more than 200 benchmark projects, serving more than 10 million industry customers.

The innovative development of 5G applications can be seen from the Zhanfan Cup. The "Zhanfan Cup" 5G Application Innovation Competition has been held for four consecutive years. The number of participating projects was 330 in 2018, 4,289 in 2020, and increased to 12,000 in 2021. The participating projects cover more than 10 fields such as industrial Internet, smart cities, parks, medical care, and transportation. Some leading field applications have moved from pilot demonstrations to large-scale replication.

Harmony and coexistence help 5G take off

From building the world's largest 5G network to implementing 5G+ industry applications, 5G has empowered thousands of industries. In three years, China's 5G development has delivered an excellent answer.

Despite this, it should be noted that the scale development of 5G has just begun, and the multiplier empowerment effect of 5G is far from being released. As China Telecom Chairman Ke Ruiwen said, 5G is still in its early stages of development, the full 5G personal application scenarios are not rich enough, and industrial Internet applications are still in the exploratory stage. Further development and maturity require joint efforts from all sectors of the industry.

In this regard, the "5G Application "Set Sail" Action Plan (2021-2023)" proposes to work hard to deepen and broaden coverage, deepen integrated applications, and increase industrial collaboration, so as to achieve the large-scale replication and promotion of 5G from leading industries to thousands of industries.

Currently, the three major operators are taking active actions in building application ecology, creating open platforms, incubating innovative products and even providing investment and financing. China Telecom has opened more than 1,000 digital atomic capabilities, built an industrial innovation ecosystem such as the 5G Industry Innovation Alliance and the 5G Converged Application Open Laboratory, promoted the implementation of deeper pragmatic ecological cooperation, and jointly created a new industry win-win ecology.

The road is tortuous, but the future is bright. Looking into the future, 5G base station deployment, the number of 5G users, and 5G mobile phone shipments will continue to maintain rapid growth, and the value of 5G will be further released.