The operators’ 5G investment budget has been determined. From construction to application, what other challenges are there to overcome?

According to statistics from China News Service, 31 provinces in China have released their 5G network construction goals for 2021. The operators' 5G investment budgets have also been clarified. Experts said that 5G applications are the key to 5G commercial use, and 5G needs to focus on both personal (2C) and industry (2B) applications.

1. Operators’ 5G investment budget released

As the basic support for 5G networks, 5G base station construction has become a top priority for local plans in 2021. According to reports, 31 provinces have released work goals for 5G network construction in 2021. Many provinces have announced the number of 5G base stations to be built, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands.

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Specifically, Jiangsu has a 5G base station construction target of 60,000, the largest number in the country; Hunan is second with 55,000; Henan and Shandong are close behind, with 50,000 and 40,000 5G base station construction targets respectively. Some provinces not only announced 5G base station construction targets, but also clearly proposed 5G signal coverage. For example, Shandong, Henan, Heilongjiang and other provinces proposed that 5G signals should cover towns and villages.

At the same time, 5G applications have also become a development focus, especially in the 5G+Industrial Internet. Zhejiang proposed to improve the industrial Internet platform system, implement the "5G+Industrial Internet" project, and form a large-scale and wide-ranging new technology integration application scenario; Shandong requires that the province's communications industry carry out a special action for "5G+Industrial Internet" in 2021, and the typical application scenarios of "5G+Industrial Internet" have been rapidly promoted, with new projects increasing by more than 10% year-on-year; Ningxia and Xinjiang have also proposed to accelerate the construction of the "5G+Industrial Internet" industrial ecology.

Operators are the main force in 5G network construction. With the release of the 2020 annual financial reports of the three major operators, the veil of 5G investment and construction in 2021 has also been lifted. Statistics show that the three major operators' capital expenditure budget for 2021 is 370.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.69%. The total capital expenditure budget for 5G is 184.7 billion yuan, including 110 billion yuan for China Mobile, 39.7 billion yuan for China Telecom, and 35 billion yuan for China Unicom, a year-on-year increase of 2.44%. If China Tower is included, the four basic telecommunications companies will invest a total of 203.1 billion yuan in 5G network construction in 2021, a further increase from last year.

In terms of base station construction, China Telecom and China Unicom jointly build and share, and plan to open a total of 700,000 5G base stations by the end of 2021, and build 320,000 new 5G base stations throughout the year.

China Mobile plans to build about 120,000 new 2.6GHz base stations in 2021. In addition, it will jointly purchase more than 400,000 700MHz base stations with China Radio and Television, which will be completed and put into operation between 2021 and 2022.

2. Promote the development of applications

In the more than one year since 5G was put into commercial use, the pace of 5G's progress has become increasingly clear. In terms of 5G+Industrial Internet, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that my country has completed more than 1,100 5G+Industrial Internet projects.

In terms of 5G+ medical care, Mao Qunan, director of the Planning Department of the National Health Commission, recently introduced that my country has built more than 1,100 Internet hospitals. In terms of integration and development with advanced technology, last September, the world's first 5G+ holographic remote diagnosis and treatment system was officially released in Taizhou, Jiangsu, China. At the same time, the world's first 5G+ holographic remote diagnosis and treatment was successfully implemented.

The above achievements are driven by 5G. According to Huawei's Executive Director Wang Tao, in 2020, 5G To B commercialization will start, forming a large number of commercial practices. In China, driven by 5G, more than 5,000 commercial innovation projects are being implemented in multiple industries.

Recently, the three major operators have continued to explore 5G applications and promote the implementation of 5G applications. For example, the second phase of the "FAW Fusheng Intelligent Equipment Laboratory" project jointly undertaken by Changchun Telecom and Tianyi Zhilian has achieved the expected goals and completed the acceptance; China Mobile has enabled Shanghai's digital transformation and achieved "multi-point blossoming" of industry demonstration applications such as 5G+smart banking, 5G+Beidou high-precision positioning, and 5G+smart factories; Jiangsu Unicom and ZTE have jointly established a 5G message open laboratory to actively research and explore industry applications based on 5G messages and accelerate the commercialization of 5G message applications.

Relevant institutions recently shared 69 5G application cases released by China Mobile, covering 10 major industries and 35 sub-application fields, including government affairs and public utilities, industry, agriculture, culture, sports and entertainment, medical care, transportation, finance, tourism, education, and electricity.

The "China Telecom 5G Industry Scenario Case Collection (First Series)" released by China Telecom also summarizes nearly 40 application cases of 5G in industries such as live media broadcasting, industrial Internet, video security, smart medical care, smart education, smart transportation, and smart energy.

China Unicom’s application cases in various industries are similar to the two.

3.5G converged application innovation has both opportunities and challenges

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology plans to promote the construction and application of 5G networks in an orderly manner in 2021, accelerate 5G coverage in major cities, and build more than 600,000 new 5G base stations. At the same time, with 5G construction as the driving force, it will focus on 10 key industries, form 20 typical industrial application scenarios, carry out industrial 5G private network pilots, and release 5G millimeter wave frequency planning for some frequency bands in due course.

At present, although my country has achieved fruitful results in 5G network coverage and industrial development, there are still many challenges in integrated innovation and application implementation.

The "2021 5G Development Outlook White Paper" released at the beginning of the year believes that in 2021, my country's 5G network construction and industry scale will further grow, and the growth rate will exceed that of 2020. 5G integrated applications will benefit C/B/G multi-terminal users and markets, among which the construction of 5G private networks in the industrial Internet field will take the lead, bringing opportunities for industry development and digital transformation.

But at the same time, my country's 5G integrated application innovation in vertical industries also faces many challenges. First, there is a lack of an effective communication platform between the communications industry and other vertical industries; second, the needs of each vertical industry vary greatly, and it is difficult to replicate the successful experience of the consumer Internet era; third, many vertical industries currently cannot see the application value of 5G in their industries, and the business model of the 5G era is also unclear, which requires operators and vertical industries to explore and explore together.

Creating a business model suitable for 5G technology applications is the foundation for 5G success. At present, my country's 5G business profit model is not yet clear. In addition, there are shortcomings in the F5G standard and certification mechanism.

In this regard, experts from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology said that 5G can meet the needs of both 2C and 2B directions at the same time. 2C is the basis and extension of 2B applications, and the two need to go hand in hand in the future.

At present, my country's 5G development has entered a critical stage of integrated innovation, and the coordinated promotion of multiple entities such as basic telecommunications, equipment manufacturing, and vertical industries is accelerating. With the orderly advancement of my country's 5G network construction and application, it will inject new impetus into the development of the digital economy and promote the construction of a new pattern of high-quality development.