As 5G applications take root in various industries, how can we create healthy competition?

When it comes to 5G networks, the first perception of ordinary users is high speed and the interconnection of all things; when it comes to 5G applications, people may also think of the recently popular concept of the metaverse. In fact, as early as one year ago, the industry generally believed that 5G applications should first cover the industry, that is, the industrial Internet, which is the foundation of the digital society. Only by building a solid foundation can we better serve the people's livelihood. Today, although 5G applications have long taken root in the industry, there is a homogeneous competition with serious internal friction. In order to allow 5G applications to develop healthily, the industry needs to be further standardized.

5G applications flourish in multiple industries

Recently, the People's Daily published an article stating that with the 5G network coverage in all prefecture-level cities, more than 97% of county towns and 40% of townships, my country's 5G applications are taking root in various industries across the country. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are currently more than 10,000 5G application innovation cases across the country, covering 22 important industries of the national economy. Facing the three major areas of information consumption, real economy, and people's livelihood services, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 5G applications in 15 industries are becoming the focus of relevant ministries and local governments.

Judging from the national regional coverage, industry coverage, and project innovation rate, 5G applications have become one of the cores of digital city construction. However, from another perspective, 5G applications are generally divided by industry. For example, 5G applications in the industrial Internet are recognized by the industry as 5G+Industrial Internet; 5G applications in smart transportation are mostly remembered as 5G+smart street lights, 5G+smart bus stations, etc. No one can shout out the brand of 5G applications.

5G application "homogenization" phenomenon is serious

5G applications can be called the software of strategic public infrastructure in the 5G era, and are also an important engine driving economic and social development. However, the technical characteristics, demand scenarios, and professional thresholds of 5G applications in various fields vary greatly. The promotion of 5G applications in thousands of industries also faces difficulties such as difficulty in technical integration, wide coverage of fields, long industrial chain, many business breakpoints, and difficulty in large-scale replication. It is difficult to achieve success overnight.

Especially in terms of large-scale replication, as an industry expert said: Now we need to establish a new business model as soon as possible to rapidly expand the scale of 5G industry applications. Every enterprise hopes to have differentiated 5G applications. In this way, thousands of enterprises will repeatedly develop 5G applications, affecting the progress of 5G application promotion.

In short, today's 5G applications present a situation of "a hundred schools of thought", and the intensity of competition is not an exaggeration to describe it as a red ocean. How to integrate industry resources to form effective communication? How to establish a brand effect and form a reasonably competitive industry market? How to establish unified standards and reduce ineffective competition? It is worth thinking about.

5G application construction needs to play a "team game"

In July 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the "5G Application "Set Sail" Action Plan (2021-2023)" with nine departments, proposing eight special actions in the aspects of standard system construction, industrial foundation strengthening, information consumption upgrading, industry application deepening, and social and people's livelihood services, pointing out the direction for the development of 5G applications in the next three years.

Judging from the actual implementation situation, in the past year, governments at all levels have also been actively promoting 5G construction. Many places have strengthened top-level design and formulated special plans and action plans. For example, by establishing 5G working groups and establishing linkage working mechanisms, they have effectively promoted the development of 5G.

In short, in promoting the development of 5G applications, we should think from the perspective of solving the current industry "puzzle". First, in the early stage of incubation, we should follow the rules from pilot demonstration to large-scale promotion and then to large-scale commercial use, use time to exchange space, and promote the accelerated implementation of 5G applications; secondly, from the perspective of the industrial chain, upstream and downstream enterprises deeply involved need to rely on technology iteration and update, management innovation, communication and intercommunication, and strive to reduce the production cost of 5G applications; finally, in the entire industry, we must play a good "team game" and accelerate the formation of a large ecosystem for the integrated development of 5G applications. Only in this way can we essentially solve the "puzzle" of 5G application homogeneity.