It’s time to promote 5G applications

At present, 5G integrated applications are in a critical period of large-scale development. With the joint efforts of all parties, 5G commercial development has achieved remarkable results, technical and industrial capabilities have been continuously improved, the network and user scale are leading the world, and application exploration is becoming increasingly active. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 10 other departments issued the "5G Application "Sailing" Action Plan (2021-2023)", focusing on promoting 5G applications in 15 industries such as the industrial Internet, and accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the digitalization, networking, and intelligence of the economy and society.

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Helping traditional industries improve quality and efficiency

Pulang Copper Mine is located in the northeast of Shangri-La City, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The mine area is 3,400-4,500 meters above sea level. The high-altitude and oxygen-deficient natural environment has long posed a great challenge to safe production. Today, with 5G smart equipment and smart control, miners can operate underground mining smart equipment several kilometers away in the dispatching hall, achieving safe production with "few people or no people".

In addition to smart mining, the construction of smart ports is also in full swing. Mawan Port, located in the western port area of ​​Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, was a bulk cargo terminal before the transformation. At that time, workers had to work continuously for 8 hours a day in the cab at an altitude of 30 meters. Long-term observation with their heads down could easily cause cervical discomfort. Now, with the empowerment of 5G technology, workers can control 6 devices at the same time while sitting in the intelligent remote control center, greatly improving work efficiency.

Smart logistics, smart electricity, smart oil and gas, smart agriculture... 5G is deeply integrated with all walks of life and accelerated. According to the data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of June 2021, China has built a total of 961,000 5G base stations, covering all cities at the prefecture level and above in the country, and the number of 5G mobile terminal connections has reached 365 million, accounting for more than 80% of the world. Typical applications such as 5G ultra-high-definition video, smart education, smart hospitals, public health, and healthy elderly care have accelerated their development, and there are more than 10,000 5G application innovation cases across the country.

As an important part of the new infrastructure, 5G's role in driving the development of the industrial chain has attracted much attention. In the view of Wei Liurong, deputy chief engineer of the Policy and Economic Research Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, 5G will drive a huge industrial chain. The upstream is the electronic component industry such as chips and radio frequency devices, the midstream involves network system equipment, network construction, etc., and the downstream is network operation, various application scenarios and terminal products. It is estimated that from the issuance of 5G commercial licenses to 2025, 5G will drive telecom operators' network construction investment of about 1.2 trillion yuan, drive vertical industry 5G network and 5G terminal equipment investment of about 470 billion yuan, and directly drive the total economic output of more than 10 trillion yuan.

High-speed Internet makes life more convenient

"A few days ago, I watched the Olympic Games live broadcast on my mobile phone at home, and I didn't have to worry about lag!" Xiao Liu, an employee of an Internet company in Beijing, told reporters. Xiao Liu has been using a 5G mobile phone for a while. "Colleagues and friends around me often ask me about my experience. I can feel that everyone is more and more willing to buy 5G mobile phones." Xiao Liu said that the experience of using 5G mobile phones is getting smoother and the package tariffs are getting more and more preferential. I believe that the popularity of 5G mobile phones will get faster and faster.

5G is integrated into society and people's livelihood, allowing more people to experience the speed and convenience of 5G. Data shows that in the first half of this year, China's 5G mobile phone shipments grew rapidly, reaching 128 million units, accounting for 73.4% of mobile phone shipments in the same period.

During the epidemic prevention period, live streaming, telemedicine, cloud tourism, etc. left a deep impression on people. In these application scenarios, 5G technology with high speed and low latency played an important role, and the changes brought by 5G are happening around you and me. Mr. Zhou is the owner of a scenic spot restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. At the beginning of the epidemic, the restaurant's business suffered a heavy blow. Later, he thought of live streaming. "5G has fast network speed and clear and smooth high-definition live streaming, which helped me a lot!" Mr. Zhou introduced that with the help of 5G live streaming, the restaurant launched a takeaway business, and the business has improved day by day.

Experts pointed out that the wide coverage of 5G networks can extend the perception of social governance widely and deeply, and accelerate the modernization of governance capabilities. In the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province, parties can participate in the trial through mobile phones and computers no matter where they are. This way of opening court across time and space is precisely due to the "all-weather", "online" and "non-contact" smart cloud trial system jointly created by new technologies such as 5G and blockchain.

Industry insiders believe that since the commercial use of 5G, driven by national policies and market demand, China has continuously enriched 5G application scenarios in the fields of new information consumption, industry integration applications, social livelihood services, etc., and has achieved positive results. At present, the deep integration of 5G technology with various fields of economy and society has increasingly become a key driver for promoting the digitalization, networking, and intelligent transformation and upgrading of the economy and society.

Work together to promote large-scale application of 5G

The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Long-Term Goals for 2035 clearly proposes to "build application scenarios and industrial ecosystems based on 5G". The 5G Application "Set Sail" Action Plan (2021-2023) establishes China's 5G development goals for the next three years and proposes seven quantitative indicators, among which the penetration rate of 5G individual users exceeds 40% and the number of users exceeds 560 million. It can be said that it is time for 5G applications to set sail.

Promoting the large-scale development of 5G industry applications is an important measure to promote high-quality economic development, enable the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, and enhance the resilience of the industrial chain and supply chain. However, there are still many difficulties in the large-scale development of 5G applications. "For the same coverage area, the investment in 5G base station construction is about 1.5 times that of 4G. The investment is large and the payback period is long, which puts certain financial pressure on the company." Peng Jian, deputy director of the Radio Management Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said that the high energy consumption and high electricity costs of 5G base stations also hinder the promotion of coverage.

"my country is currently at the forefront of the world in 5G development, and there is no ready-made experience to draw on for 5G applications." Xie Cun, director of the Information and Communications Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that 5G is still in its early stages of development overall, and its integration with the industry is a gradual process that needs to follow the rules from pilot demonstration to large-scale promotion to large-scale application.

Experts said that the main battlefield of 5G applications is to empower the real economy and all industries, which determines that 5G applications are a long-term, complex and systematic project. Now it is urgent to coordinate the forces of multiple parties, not only to require the extensive participation of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain and to carry out "group" cooperation, but also to urgently need the joint efforts of government departments to increase support and guidance, so as to form a joint force to promote the large-scale development of 5G applications, create new products, new formats and new models of 5G applications, and provide solid support for digital transformation, intelligent upgrading and integrated innovation in various fields of the economy and society.