5G enables thousands of industries, and deepening transformation calls for cross-domain collaboration

According to the Economic Operation of the Communications Industry in the First Quarter of 2021 released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by the end of March this year, my country's three major telecom operators had built a total of 819,000 5G base stations and developed 285 million 5G mobile terminal user connections, accounting for 17.8% of the total number of mobile phone users. The application of 5G has strongly promoted the use of mobile data traffic by Chinese consumers, and mobile Internet traffic has shown a rapid growth trend. In March 2021, the average mobile Internet access traffic per household reached 12.74GB, setting a historical record.

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Not only is the individual user market growing rapidly, my country's 5G industry applications have also taken the lead in the world. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by the end of 2020, there were more than 1,100 "5G+Industrial Internet" projects in the country, and industrial Internet applications covered more than 30 key industries such as raw materials, equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, energy, and medical care. The total number of 5G base stations used in the industrial Internet exceeded 32,000.

After nearly two years of unremitting efforts, my country's mobile communications industry has carried out large-scale pilot projects for 5G industry applications in some typical industries, and the number of 5G base stations in some pilot projects has reached three digits. Through such large-scale application pilots, telecom companies and users in related industries have jointly built the technical capabilities required for 5G industry applications and explored certain commercial experience, laying a solid foundation for further large-scale promotion.

5G helps traditional industries transform and upgrade to cope with the decline of the "demographic dividend"

Through the early large-scale application pilot, it can be found that 5G industry applications are gradually converging and focusing on some key industries, including coal mining, steel, manufacturing, ports, medical care, electricity, etc. For example, since the Hunan Xiangtan Iron and Steel Group started the 5G smart steel plant project in July 2019, it has deployed 5G+MEC technology through cooperation with China Mobile to build a fully connected wireless network in the production park. As of December 2020, about 200 5G base stations have been deployed in the Valin Xianggang plant area, completing the full coverage of the 5G private network within the plant area, and realizing the application of 5G remote-controlled overhead cranes, 5G unmanned overhead cranes, 5G slag adding robots, 5G+AR assisted assembly and other technical applications. 5G industry applications have promoted the improvement of Xianggang's automation, informatization, and digitalization levels, driving its overall production efficiency to increase by 30%, and achieving annual direct economic benefits of more than 100 million yuan.

For example, Shanxi Yangmei Group Xinyuan Coal Mine cooperated with China Mobile to build the lowest underground 5G network in China - a 534-meter underground "super-gigabit uplink" coal mine 5G dedicated network, which realized the intelligent management of coal mines. Intelligent construction has reduced more than 300 underground operators of various types at Xinyuan Coal Mine, achieving simultaneous improvement in production safety and efficiency. After Ningbo Zhoushan Port deployed 5G smart port applications, 5G has brought about earth-shaking changes in the operation mode of gantry cranes. The driver can remotely control from the control room more than 20 meters high to the air-conditioned office, realizing the improvement and upgrade of the working environment from "sauna room" to "air-conditioned room", increasing loading and unloading efficiency by 20%, and reducing comprehensive labor costs by more than 50%. At the same time, it has greatly improved the level of unmanned operations in the port and achieved higher safety.

Summarizing the development patterns of these industry applications, we can find that traditional industries such as steel, mining, and ports, which have a high proportion of fixed assets, low operating profit margins, high labor intensity, and poor working environment, have a stronger demand for 5G industry applications, and the benefits after deploying 5G industry applications are more significant. As my country's "demographic dividend" gradually recedes, the demand for industrial automation solutions in these traditional industries will increase, and their traditional "manpower-centered" production and operation model is expected to transform into a new model centered on data and using automation equipment as a means. 5G will play an indispensable role in accelerating the digital transformation of these traditional industries.

5G drives information construction and promotes the improvement of social production efficiency

In addition to enabling the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the large-scale deployment and commercial promotion of 5G have also made the concept of industry informatization deeply rooted in people's minds, promoted the informatization construction and upgrading of thousands of industries, and the popularization and application of 5G and new information technology have promoted the improvement of production efficiency in various industries, forming a positive cycle.

For example, Guangdong Industrial Design City in Shunde, Guangdong is a "National Industrial Design Demonstration Base". The core area of ​​the park is 70,000 square meters. There are more than 300 companies and more than 8,000 designers and developers in the park, forming an end-to-end industrial design service chain. Against the background of the increasing popularity of 5G industry applications, park operators realized that outdated information management systems have affected services to enterprises in the park and restricted business growth. Therefore, they cooperated with China Telecom to launch the 5G Smart Park project. The project provides a unified software and application ecosystem for park operators and enterprises in the park by comprehensively applying China Telecom's 5G, NB-IoT and other connection technologies, as well as China Telecom's public cloud services and edge computing platforms. The project can not only greatly improve the overall operational efficiency of the park, but also help enterprises in the park improve production and operation efficiency by relying on the integrated cloud platform and special SaaS applications. For example, a high-performance cloud computing platform can shorten the image rendering time from 300 minutes to 5 minutes, and a cloud workstation can reduce the electricity cost of an enterprise by 70%.

It can be seen that the information construction and upgrading driven by 5G can effectively improve the production and operation efficiency of various industries, and is expected to play an important role in promoting the long-term and healthy development of the national economy.

Cross-domain collaboration helps 5G industry applications take off

At present, China's 5G industry applications are well-deserved to lead the global market in terms of project quantity, scale and social and economic benefits. By summarizing the development experience of these application pilots, we can find that extensive cross-domain collaboration is of great significance to promoting the digital transformation of the industry.

The digital transformation of the industry not only has diversified demands for connection infrastructure and cloud-network integration strategies, but also puts forward higher requirements for the deep integration of information and communication technology and industry-specific operational technology. Information and communication enterprises can acquire corresponding operational experience and specialized skills through internal accumulation or external cooperation, and gradually transform into comprehensive ICT service providers. This will help information and communication enterprises design and deploy effective industry solutions and serve the digital transformation of the industry in the long term.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "5G Application "Sailing" Action Plan (2021-2023)" (draft for comments), which pointed out the direction and formulated a plan for further promoting the development of 5G applications. In terms of 5G industry applications, the "Sailing Plan" specifically proposes to "accelerate cross-domain integration and innovative development", "strike a good technical 'combination punch'", and "create a group of application solution providers who understand both 5G and the industry."

It can be seen that promoting the digital transformation of the industry through cross-domain collaboration has gained broad consensus among the industry and policy makers. With the gradual implementation of top-level designs such as the "Sailing Plan", we expect the cross-domain collaboration between the information and communication industry and various industries in society to be further deepened, thereby promoting the commercial implementation of 5G industry applications and helping the digital transformation of the industry to set sail.