5G acceleration is inseparable from the coordination of software and hardware and industrial integration.

Faced with the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, global "interconnection" has played a vital role in economic recovery, and China plays a key role. At this time, the "connectivity" role of 5G is undoubtedly the basis for building fast data interaction and intelligent processing. Global 5G deployment has entered the fast lane. In 2020, more than 140 5G networks have been commercially deployed worldwide, with more than 250 million users and 550 commercial terminals released. The upgrade of network capabilities has brought consumers upgraded applications and experiences, and also provided new impetus for industrial transformation.

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The only way out for 5G acceleration is through software-hardware collaboration and industry integration (Image from voicemedia.ie)

According to GSMA Intelligence, by the end of 2020, 140 operators in nearly 60 markets had launched 5G services. China's 5G infrastructure leads the world in terms of scale, with 5G connections accounting for the vast majority of global 5G connections (over 75%), and nearly 720,000 5G base stations have been built. At the same time, Chinese consumers have the strongest willingness to upgrade to 5G in the world, with 62% of Chinese consumers planning to upgrade to 5G in 2020, which is also reflected in their enthusiasm for purchasing new 5G mobile terminals.

At present, China's three major operators have deployed nearly 700,000 5G base stations, ranking first in the world in infrastructure deployment, and are steadily developing towards the world's largest 5G market scale. With the post-epidemic era, economic recovery and the return of many economic formats to normal, in addition to more than 150 million 5G mobile phones connected to the 5G network, the application of 5G in all walks of life will be further accelerated. In terms of average price per GB, the price of 5G is usually lower than 4G. Compared with operators in other countries, Chinese operators are more advanced in the deployment of 5G independent networking, and are also at the forefront of exploration in consumer and industry applications.

Mei Jun, chief engineer of Xinyan Coal Mine of Luliang Dongyi Group Coal Gasification Co., Ltd., once said that the coal industry is actively exploring areas such as intelligent production, and information and communication technologies represented by 5G provide production guarantees and platforms for intelligent construction. In December last year, Xinyan Coal Mine was selected as one of the first batch of national intelligent demonstration coal mines, marking that the intelligence of coal mines has entered a comprehensive exploration and practice in the fields of construction concepts, system architecture, intelligent technology and equipment, comprehensive management, and economic investment, helping to build "new energy infrastructure."

Compared with 4G networks, the low latency and large bandwidth of 5G networks solve the problems of untimely signal transmission and lost brackets in coal mines, and minimize many safety hazards. At the same time, wireless communications, high-definition probes, and visual operations based on 5G networks have also greatly improved production efficiency and quality. In the past, coal mine operations required a large amount of human resources, which, combined with relatively backward operating conditions, posed a great threat to production safety. Among the three phased goals of the intelligent development of coal mines, it is mentioned that it is necessary to basically achieve the goal of reducing the number of people and improving the efficiency of the excavation face, less or no people in the comprehensive mining face, and unmanned and remote monitoring of fixed posts in underground and open-pit coal mines. These are achieved with the help of smart connections and applications based on 5G networks.

Gan Bin, vice president of Huawei's wireless network product line, once shared some findings on how to build a competitive 5G target network for the future full-spectrum 5G. He included that 5G to B capabilities must be flexibly deployed and upgraded on demand. Compared with traditional networks, the connection of various things in the industry requires not only a universal coverage network to support the massive connection of IoT terminals, but also in local scenarios, the service experience is expanded from a single speed dimension to multiple dimensions including uplink and downlink speeds, end-to-end latency, and positioning.

At the same time, the combination of diverse network capabilities according to service models has put forward higher requirements for network construction and maintenance. Huawei has brought automation into all stages of "planning, construction, maintenance, and optimization" of toB networks through the innovative 5GtoB Suite solution, realizing active end-to-end network operation and maintenance and intelligent and precise planning of industry networks, injecting new impetus into the development of 5G wireless network services in the operator industry.

Research firm IHS Markit predicts that by 2035, 5G will create $13.1 trillion in global economic output, and the forecast for 5G capital expenditure and R&D investment will increase by nearly 10.8% year-on-year. In the next 15 years, the number of jobs created by 5G will increase to 22.8 million, a considerable number of which will be in China. This shows that 5G technology is increasingly influential in the digital transformation of various industries.

Today, 5G is flourishing in industries such as energy, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and entertainment. For example, in the medical field, remote B-ultrasound supported by 5G allows experienced doctors in the city to guide local doctors to operate B-ultrasound equipment through high-definition B-ultrasound images transmitted in real time through the 5G network, and provide timely examination and diagnosis services to local patients. In the traditional model in the past, doctors, patients, and equipment needed to be in one place to complete medical treatment. With the 5G network, it can now be carried out in different locations thousands of miles apart. Such a model has greatly alleviated the contradiction between imbalance and shortage of medical resources.

It can be seen that the trend of 5G new infrastructure benefiting thousands of industries has accelerated.