my country has already achieved commercial use of 5G, with leading technology and scale, but it is difficult to fully popularize it due to three problems

The most frequently heard topic in the past two years should be 5G. In the era of artificial intelligence, the 5G industry has also ushered in rapid development. According to the official "Economic Operation of the Communications Industry in the First Quarter of 2021", as of the end of March this year, the total number of 5G base stations in China reached 819,000, and 48,000 were newly built from January to March.

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From this data, we can see how fast the domestic 5G industry has developed. Of course, there are some other issues that need to be taken into consideration, such as excessive investment and lack of unique applications. These are all issues that need to be considered. For operators, the initial investment in 5G construction cannot be underestimated, and at the same time, the unit price of tariffs needs to be controlled. Therefore, only by exploring new business models can the industry be successfully applied.

Of course, in the two years since 5G was put into commercial use in my country, the 5G base stations that have been opened have covered all prefecture-level cities and more than 95% of counties and districts. Among them, the number of 5G mobile terminal connections has exceeded 392 million. 5G has been combined with high-tech technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to explore new models such as 5G+Industrial Internet. There are more than 10,000 domestic 5G application cases alone, covering areas including steel, mining, etc. In terms of 5G technology, my country is far ahead of other countries in the world.

To a certain extent, my country has built the world's leading 5G network with the largest scale and the largest number of users. The development of global communication technology has experienced exponential growth from its initial stage to today, and 5G standards have repeatedly broken through. The demand for system performance and user experience has forced 5G technology to move to a higher level.

Someone asked, since 5G can be divided into various fields, including small base stations, optical fiber cables, optical modules, switch servers, antenna feeder systems, 5G modules, base station radio frequency and equipment vendors' 5G main equipment, which of these sub-fields is the most promising?

5G main equipment

In general, each field plays a different role. Take 5G main equipment as an example. As the core equipment of 5G network, its existence can be said to be indispensable in the construction of 5G infrastructure. At present, this market has been occupied by five major equipment manufacturers: Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, and China Information and Communications Technology. As one of the earliest equipment manufacturers to study 5G construction, Huawei's position in this market is naturally not to be underestimated.

Base Station RF

With the advent of the 5G era, wireless will no longer stop at connecting people and devices, but also between devices, and base station radio frequency belongs to such a highly integrated industry. Of course, there are also many manufacturers engaged in this field. Among them, Tongyu Communication, as a global leading enterprise in base station antennas, will provide a series of advanced antenna and feeder solutions for the global market of radio frequency devices and microwave antennas throughout the 5G construction cycle.

Small Base Station

Small base stations are also important in 5G construction. In indoor scenarios that 5G macro stations cannot cover, such as stations and hotels, small base stations will be used as a supplement in a timely manner. To a certain extent, small base stations have become an indispensable part of 5G network construction. Many domestic companies have begun to engage in the research and development, manufacturing and sales of small base stations. Overall, the leaders in this field include Comba Telecom, Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and China Information and Communications Technology.

Among them, Comba Telecom has won 5G small base station commercial contracts in many provinces, and is still in a leading position in this market. From the above three fields, it can be seen that the importance of any sub-field in the 5G era is irreplaceable. As for which of the eight major fields we mentioned above is more important, it is actually impossible to rank them in order.

In any case, my country's performance in the 5G market is still commendable. Shenzhen alone has more 5G base stations than the whole of Europe. Germany has only a few hundred 5G base stations, but Shenzhen already has 46,000 5G base stations. The reason why my country's 5G network can be developed rapidly is related to the advanced construction strategy. Of course, in order to maintain this leading situation, the speed of 5G network construction needs to be further accelerated.

Relevant departments have made it clear that my country will continue to increase the construction of 5G networks in 2021, and it is expected that the number of new 5G base stations in the country will exceed 600,000 by the end of 2021. Further coverage will be provided for areas above the county level and some key towns. In any case, it is a good thing that 5G is ushering in comprehensive development, but there are some issues that must be taken seriously if it is to be truly implemented. In fact, as we have said above, the biggest problems in the 5G field are funding, energy consumption and application.

Let alone 5G, the three major operators have invested more than 900 billion in 4G, and have not yet fully recovered their costs. It is roughly estimated that 260 billion has been invested in 5G, and it is still unknown when the investment will be recovered. In addition, 2021 is the peak period of 5G investment in my country. If the three major operators want to expand into more markets, they will face pressure in terms of investment.

In addition to funding issues, energy consumption is also a major problem. According to data, the power consumption of 5G base stations can reach 1.5 to 3 times that of 4G base stations, not to mention the overall energy consumption due to the high construction density. Even if the power consumption of base stations can be reduced through innovative hardware, it will take time to study the implementation of these technologies. In other words, as long as the power consumption problem is not solved, the time for the full popularization of 5G will need to be postponed.

The last point is application. At present, 5G still lacks some unique applications. Some institutions predict that the real problem facing 5G in the future will no longer be technology, but the lack of "heavyweight applications". Although 5G has been taken seriously by countries around the world, it has not had a special application for the public like 4G. Without this unique feature, it will be difficult to be fully popularized in the market.