my country has initially built the world's largest 5G mobile network

"Since the implementation of network speed-up and fee reduction in 2015, my country has built the world's largest broadband network infrastructure in terms of speed increase, achieving 'same network and same speed' in rural and urban areas; in terms of fee reduction, the average charges per unit bandwidth of fixed broadband and per unit traffic of mobile networks have dropped by more than 95%." Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at the regular policy briefing of the State Council held on the 19th.

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What results have been achieved in my country's network speed-up and fee reduction since the 13th Five-Year Plan? The State Council executive meeting held recently deployed to continue to promote network speed-up and fee reduction. What is the key direction this year? Relevant officials from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission introduced the relevant situation.

The user experience speed has increased by about 7 times compared with 5 years ago

"In recent years, my country's efforts to speed up and reduce network fees have achieved positive results. The speeds of fixed broadband and mobile networks have increased significantly, and charges have dropped significantly, playing an important role in improving people's quality of life, reducing corporate costs, and prospering the digital economy," said Liu Liehong.

From the perspective of network capabilities, user speeds have jumped significantly. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, my country has built the world's largest information and communication network. Looking at fixed networks, the proportion of fiber-optic broadband users has increased from 56% at the end of 2015 to 94% now, and gigabit optical networks cover more than 120 million households; looking at mobile networks, the scale of 4G base stations accounts for more than half of the global total, 792,000 5G base stations have been opened, and the number of 5G mobile terminal connections has reached 260 million. The 5G network in independent networking mode has covered all prefecture-level cities, and the world's largest 5G mobile network has been initially built. At present, the end-to-end user experience speed of my country's fixed broadband and mobile networks has increased by about 7 times compared with 5 years ago.

From the perspective of tariff levels, the reduction in tariffs is real. Over the past five years, the average tariff per unit bandwidth of fixed broadband and per unit traffic of mobile networks has dropped by more than 95%. The average tariff per unit bandwidth of enterprise broadband and dedicated lines has dropped by more than 70%. Various tariff reduction measures have benefited more than 1 billion users annually, with a cumulative profit of more than 700 billion yuan.

From the perspective of innovative applications, the integration and empowerment have achieved remarkable results. The increase in network speed and the reduction in fees have promoted the rapid popularization of various Internet applications and stimulated the potential of information consumption. The average monthly traffic of mobile users has increased from 205MB at the beginning of 2015 to 10.85GB now, an increase of more than 40 times.

Moreover, by accelerating the improvement of rural network infrastructure, the urban-rural "digital divide" has been significantly narrowed. Currently, the proportion of administrative villages in my country with access to optical fiber and 4G exceeds 99%.

Targeted fee reductions for small and medium-sized enterprises, the elderly and other groups

This year's "Government Work Report" proposed that the average broadband and dedicated line charges for small and medium-sized enterprises be reduced by another 10%; efforts to build 5G networks and gigabit optical networks will be intensified to enrich application scenarios. What is the focus of the new round of network speed-up and fee reduction, and how will it be implemented?

"This year, the focus of our work on speeding up and reducing fees will shift from 'universal coverage' of the network to 'speeding up and improving quality', and from 'universal fee reduction' to 'precise fee reduction'," said Liu Liehong.

In terms of network speed-up, the coordinated development of "dual gigabit" networks represented by 5G and gigabit optical networks will be promoted. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued an action plan, which clearly stated that it will take about three years to basically build a "dual gigabit" network infrastructure that fully covers urban areas and qualified towns, and realize that fixed and mobile networks generally have the ability to "gigabit to the home."

Liu Liehong proposed that this year, a larger-scale gigabit optical network upgrade and home renovation will be carried out, and the on-demand construction and in-depth coverage of 5G networks will be promoted in an orderly manner, while the co-construction and sharing of telecommunications infrastructure will be deepened.

In terms of reducing charges, targeted fee reductions will continue to be implemented. Basic telecommunications companies will be organized as soon as possible to clarify detailed measures for key groups such as small and medium-sized enterprises, rural poverty-stricken households, the elderly, and the disabled. Liu Yulin, head of the Information and Communications Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, introduced that at present, basic telecommunications companies have launched some specific implementation measures, such as launching enterprise broadband speed-up actions for small and medium-sized enterprises, and launching integrated product discounts such as "cloud + network + application", which continue to reduce the cost of enterprise network and cloud use. A 50% discount on basic communication service charges is offered to rural poverty-stricken households. "We will continue to guide companies to pay more attention to key groups and launch more targeted, differentiated, and exclusive tariff plans or fee reduction measures that meet specific needs."

In terms of improving the rural information infrastructure network, Liu Liehong introduced that this year it is expected to support the construction of 10,000 4G base stations in rural and remote areas. By the end of this year, the number of administrative villages without broadband access will be dynamically cleared.

Accelerate transformation to emerging businesses and improve operational efficiency

How can central telecommunications companies balance the relationship between achieving economic benefits and fulfilling social responsibilities to ensure the sustainability of speed increases and fee reductions?

Liu Shaowei, head of the Financial Management and Operation Bureau of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, introduced that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, central telecommunications companies have enhanced their ability to increase speed and reduce fees by promoting development through investment and construction, and promoting sharing through coordinated development.

From the investment perspective, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, in accordance with the principle of moderate advancement, 4G construction was accelerated and 5G investment was expanded. The cumulative investment in fixed assets such as base stations reached 1.7 trillion yuan, equivalent to 2.6 times the net profit in the same period, of which the cumulative investment in 5G exceeded 200 billion yuan.

From the perspective of coordinated development, on the one hand, the integration of tower resources has been promoted, and the level of tower co-construction and sharing has been improved. The tower sharing rate has increased from less than 15% at the beginning to more than 80% at present, which is equivalent to building 840,000 fewer towers in total, saving more than 150 billion yuan in overall industry investment. On the other hand, the coordinated development of 5G has been promoted. China Telecom and China Unicom have jointly built more than 350,000 shared base stations, saving more than 70 billion yuan in investment.

"During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the central telecommunications enterprises have made every effort to increase speed and reduce fees. On the basis of cumulatively giving up profits of more than 700 billion yuan, they have achieved a cumulative net profit of more than 650 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of 4.3%." Liu Shaowei introduced that this year, the central telecommunications enterprises will continue to put the public and public welfare nature of the communications industry first and provide communications services that benefit the entire people. On the one hand, they will focus on the layout of cutting-edge and strategic industries such as 5G, industrial Internet, and big data, accelerate the transformation from pipeline business to new business, and cultivate new growth poles for benefits. On the other hand, by strictly controlling management expenses and reducing sales expenses, the space for corporate benefit growth will be expanded, and the potential for increasing speed and reducing fees will be continuously tapped.