China Telecom's Zhang Xin: 5G network co-construction and sharing faces three major challenges

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On June 30, at the "5G Co-construction and Sharing Summit" of the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2021), Zhang Xin, general manager of China Telecom's 5G Co-construction and Sharing Working Group, shared the innovative practices of China Telecom and China Unicom in 5G co-construction and sharing technical standards, construction operations, and management processes, and discussed subsequent research directions such as blockchain-enabled co-construction and sharing operations and slicing under shared networks. At the same time, he also pointed out that if 5G network co-construction and sharing is to succeed, it must face and solve three major challenging problems.

First, the complexity of network management. Zhang Xin said that as two operators with hundreds of millions of users in the world, China, a vast country, is carrying out full-scale 5G co-construction and sharing. "Faced with the differences in resource status, planning goals, construction processes, maintenance standards, and optimization strategies between the two networks, we need to first consider how to efficiently organize the reconstruction process and collaborative management."

Second, the uncertainty of network technology . In order for the 5G network to meet the network construction needs and user perception of both operators, it must be coordinated in terms of technical standards, network evolution, user strategies, etc. There are no mature cases to learn from in the world, and this needs to be solved through technical research and innovation.

Third, the challenges of network operation. How to solve the problems of visualizing and managing network data of both parties, efficiently and fairly dispatching resources, and ensuring mutual trust in a co-built and shared network are all difficult problems in the process of co-built and shared network operation.