Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: By the end of 2021, more than 600,000 new 5G base stations will be built and more than 20 gigabit cities will be built

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On March 24, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Action Plan for the Collaborative Development of "Dual Gigabit" Networks (2021-2023)" to coordinate the development of "dual gigabit" networks.

The following is the full text of the plan:

“Dual Gigabit” Network Collaborative Development Action Plan (2021-2023)

The "dual gigabit" network represented by gigabit optical network and 5G can provide fixed and mobile network gigabit access capabilities to individual users, with ultra-large bandwidth, ultra-low latency, advanced reliability and other characteristics. The two complement each other and promote each other, and are important components and supporting bases of new infrastructure. In order to implement the deployment requirements of the "Government Work Report", promote the mutual promotion of "dual gigabit" network construction, complementary application advantages, and innovative business integration, further play the important role of "dual gigabit" network in driving effective investment, promoting information consumption and assisting the digital transformation of manufacturing, and accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, this action plan is formulated.

I. General requirements

1. Guiding ideology

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second, third, fourth and fifth plenary sessions of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, base ourselves on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, and build a new development pattern. We will take deepening supply-side structural reform as the main line, support the construction of a strong manufacturing country, a strong cyber power and a digital China as our goal, and focus on jointly promoting the construction of "dual gigabit" networks, innovating application models, achieving technological breakthroughs, prospering the industrial ecology, and strengthening security guarantees. We will lay a solid foundation for the systematic layout of new infrastructure, lay a solid foundation for accelerating the digitalization of industries, and provide solid network support for promoting high-quality economic and social development.

2. Basic principles

Market-led, government-guided. Give full play to the role of various market players, encourage differentiated development and competition, strengthen technological innovation, promote integrated applications, deepen co-construction and sharing and green development, and comprehensively improve the supply level. Better play the positive role of the government in planning guidance, policy support, market supervision, etc., and create a good environment for the development of "dual gigabit" networks.

Fixed and mobile networks work together to complement each other's strengths. Gigabit optical networks have the advantages of large transmission bandwidth, strong anti-interference, and microsecond-level connections in indoor and complex environments, and 5G networks have the advantages of high flexibility, enhanced mobility, and large connections. Dual gigabit networks are deployed in a moderately advanced manner to simultaneously improve the carrying capacity of backbone transmission, data center interconnection, 5G bearer, and other network links.

Innovate applications and enrich scenarios. Promote use through construction and build and use simultaneously. In the field of public applications, continuously enrich the types and scenarios of "dual gigabit" applications and enhance gigabit service capabilities. In the field of industry applications, focus on key industries to create typical application demonstrations, strengthen innovation in operating models and network architecture, and explore providing end-to-end customizable network performance guarantees.

Be self-reliant and improve the ecosystem. Focusing on improving the level of advanced industrial foundation and modernization of industrial chain, we will strengthen key core technology research, increase the supply of common industrial technologies, improve the security capabilities of key products and services, improve the construction of technical standards and intellectual property systems, and build a complete, safe and open industrial ecosystem.

(III) Main objectives

In three years, the "dual gigabit" network infrastructure covering urban areas and qualified towns will be basically built, and fixed and mobile networks will generally have the "gigabit to the home" capability. The development of gigabit optical networks and 5G users will accelerate, and user experience will continue to improve. High-bandwidth applications such as augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) and ultra-high-definition video will be further integrated into production and life, and typical industry gigabit application models will be demonstrated. The core technology research and development and industrial competitiveness of gigabit optical networks and 5G will remain at the international advanced level, and the modernization level of the industrial chain and supply chain will steadily improve. The security protection capabilities of the "dual gigabit" network have been significantly enhanced.

1. By the end of 2021

• The gigabit fiber optic network has the capacity to cover 200 million households, the scale of 10G passive optical network (10G-PON) and above ports exceeds 5 million, and the number of gigabit broadband users has exceeded 10 million.
• The 5G network has basically achieved coverage of areas above the county level and some key townships, with more than 600,000 new 5G base stations.
• Build more than 20 gigabit cities.

2. By the end of 2023

• The gigabit fiber optic network has the capacity to cover 400 million households, the scale of 10G-PON and above ports exceeds 10 million, and the number of gigabit broadband users has exceeded 30 million.
• The 5G network has basically achieved coverage of areas above the township level and key administrative villages.
• Achieve the "double hundred" goal: build 100 gigabit cities and create 100 gigabit industry virtual private network benchmark projects.

II. Key Tasks

1. Gigabit City Construction Action

1. Continue to expand the coverage of gigabit optical networks. Promote basic telecommunications companies to deploy 10G-PON optical line terminals (OLT) equipment on a large scale in cities and key towns, continue to optimize OLT uplink networking and upgrade optical distribution networks (ODN) in areas with weak fiber-to-the-home services such as old residential areas and industrial parks, and promote the further extension of all-optical access networks to the user end. Carry out upgrades of home and enterprise gateway (optical modem) equipment that supports gigabit services on demand, and provide end-to-end gigabit service experience by promoting home internal wiring transformation, gigabit wireless LAN networking optimization, and guiding user access terminal upgrades.

2. Accelerate the large-scale deployment of 5G independent networking. Promote basic telecommunications enterprises to carry out large-scale commercial use of 5G independent networking (SA), focusing on accelerating network coverage in central urban areas, key areas, and key industries. Encourage the use of multiple networking methods such as macro base stations and micro base stations, combined with other technologies such as centralized wireless access networks (C-RAN), to promote the deep coverage of 5G networks in traffic hubs, large sports stadiums, scenic spots and other traffic-intensive areas. According to industrial development and application needs, timely carry out network construction based on 5G millimeter waves.

3. Deepen the construction and upgrading of rural network facilities. Improve the universal telecommunications service compensation mechanism, support basic telecommunications companies to continue to deepen broadband network coverage in rural areas with large populations, production areas, and along major transportation routes, and help consolidate and expand the results of poverty alleviation and effectively connect them with rural revitalization. Gradually promote the construction and coverage of gigabit networks in rural and remote areas with conditions and needs.

4. Deepen the co-construction and sharing of telecommunications infrastructure. Promote basic telecommunications enterprises to continue to deepen the co-construction and sharing within the industry. In accordance with the principle of "intensive use of existing resources, sharing rather than new construction", coordinate the construction needs of tower facilities, and support basic telecommunications enterprises in carrying out the co-construction and sharing of 5G networks; encourage the co-construction of optical fiber networks through the use of separate cables and pipes in the same trench, separate cables in the same pole, and separate cores in the same cable, and implement sharing through fiber core replacement and leasing of fiber cores. Focus on improving the level of cross-industry co-construction and sharing, and further strengthen communication and cooperation with the power, railway, highway, municipal and other fields.

Column 1: “100 Cities, 1,000 Gigabit” Construction Project

Accelerate the construction and deployment of "dual gigabit" networks in cities. Support local governments and basic telecommunications enterprises to build a number of "dual gigabit" demonstration communities and "dual gigabit" demonstration parks, etc., and deepen the "dual gigabit" network coverage of urban households, key areas, and key industries. Promote the development of "dual gigabit" users on demand. Support local governments and related enterprises to build a "dual gigabit" business system of "network + platform + application" fixed-mobile convergence and cloud-network convergence in combination with edge cloud deployment, promote the development of new businesses such as cloud VR and ultra-high-definition video, and promote users to migrate to 500Mbps and above high-speed broadband and 5G networks through application traction. Organize and carry out gigabit city evaluation. Combined with the evaluation indicators of gigabit cities, regularly carry out the evaluation of the effectiveness of gigabit city construction. By the end of 2021, more than 20 gigabit cities will be built nationwide, and by the end of 2023, more than 100 gigabit cities will be built nationwide, achieving a gigabit optical network coverage rate of more than 80% for urban households and more than 12 5G base stations per 10,000 people.

2. Actions to enhance carrying capacity

5. Improve the carrying capacity of backbone transmission networks. Promote basic telecommunications enterprises to continuously expand backbone transmission networks, deploy 200/400Gbps ultra-high-speed and ultra-large capacity transmission systems on demand, and improve the comprehensive carrying capacity of backbone transmission networks. Accelerate the development and application of technologies such as flexible all-optical cross-connection and intelligent management and control, and improve network scheduling capabilities and service efficiency. Guide ultra-high-speed optical transmission systems of 100Gbps and above to sink into metropolitan area networks. Encourage the use of new ultra-low-loss optical fibers in new trunk lines.

6. Optimize data center interconnection (DCI) capabilities. Promote the deployment and application of 400Gbps optical transmission systems for the needs of data center high-speed interconnection in basic telecommunications enterprises, and encourage the construction of data center direct connection networks and directional network direct connection. In conjunction with business development, continue to promote the application of DCI core technologies such as IPv6 segment routing (SRv6) and virtual extended local area network (VXLAN); promote the application of software-defined network (SDN) technology in data center interconnection, and enhance the collaborative carrying capacity of cloud networks.

7. Collaboratively promote the construction of 5G bearer networks. Promote basic telecommunications companies to carry out the construction of large-capacity, high-speed, and low-cost optical transmission systems in 5G fronthaul and midhaul networks, and improve the intelligent operation capabilities of integrated service access and network slicing resources. Promote the deployment of 50Gbps systems on demand at the metropolitan access layer of the 5G bearer network, and 100Gbps or 200Gbps systems on demand at the metropolitan aggregation layer and core layer. Gradually promote the networking of Layer 3 virtual private networks (L3VPN) to the edge, and be compatible with the interconnection networking of edge cloud data centers.

(III) Industry integration and empowerment actions

8. Innovate in the construction and deployment of gigabit industry virtual private networks. Encourage basic telecommunications companies to build and deploy gigabit virtual private networks in typical industries such as industry, transportation, power grid, education, medical care, ports, and emergency public services in accordance with the needs of industry units. Explore innovative network architectures and flexibly build networks using multiple modes such as partial sharing with the public network and end-to-end sharing with the public network. Deploy 5G base stations, OLT equipment, core network elements, industry terminals, etc. in industry units as needed to support local processing and storage of sensitive data of industry units. Explore innovative operating models, encourage the opening of relevant interface functions, provide industry units with necessary management and control authority, and serve industry development.

9. Vigorously promote innovation in the application of "dual gigabit" networks. Encourage basic telecommunications companies, Internet companies and industry units to cooperate in innovation, focus on new needs and expectations for information consumption, and accelerate the business application of "dual gigabit" networks in ultra-high-definition video, AR/VR and other consumer fields. Focus on the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, carry out "dual gigabit" collaborative innovation for different application scenarios and production processes, and accelerate the formation of "dual gigabit" application models with complementary advantages. Facing the concerns of the people in the field of people's livelihood, promote the deep integration of "dual gigabit" networks with education, medical and other industries, and strive to help improve the level of rural education and medical care through Internet means, and promote the equalization of basic public services.

10. Actively adopt new technologies such as "IPv6+" to provide deterministic service capabilities. Support basic telecommunications companies to explore the use of new technologies such as IPv6+ to provide end-to-end deterministic service capabilities at the network layer, and ensure the performance requirements of bandwidth, latency, and jitter for specific business flow transmission. New industry networks should give priority to supporting "IPv6+" functions such as IPv6 segment routing, network slicing, deterministic forwarding, and on-path detection, and carry out pilot applications such as new multicast, service chain, and application-aware network.

Column 2: Gigabit Industry Virtual Private Network Construction Benchmark Project

Promote the pilot deployment of gigabit virtual private networks in the field of industrial manufacturing. Encourage basic telecommunications enterprises to adopt the coordinated deployment of 5G, industrial passive optical networks (PON), industrial optical transport networks (OTN), etc., and combine them with new technologies such as edge computing, network slicing, and AI to form a unified and efficient carrying capacity for subnets such as industrial production, office, and security, meet the security authentication and control capabilities of industrial enterprises for access terminal equipment, and support the high-quality and rapid cloud migration needs of industrial enterprises. Promote the pilot deployment of gigabit virtual private networks in the fields of education and medical care. Encourage basic telecommunications enterprises to further enhance the network support capabilities for online education, telemedicine, etc. based on the "dual gigabit" network, meet the industry's Internet use and management needs, and provide support for typical online education application scenarios such as virtual training, smart cloud examination rooms, smart home-school communities, teacher research and training, and smart evaluation, as well as typical telemedicine application scenarios such as remote consultation, remote imaging, remote emergency, and remote monitoring. Use a variety of technical solutions such as software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), real-time video communication, and intelligent network scheduling to optimize network transmission quality. Promote the pilot deployment of gigabit virtual private networks in special fields. Basic telecommunications companies and industry units are encouraged to leverage the differentiated characteristics of gigabit optical networks and 5G for scenarios with high bandwidth requirements such as video surveillance and online quality inspection, and strong electromagnetic interference such as mining, power, and stamping manufacturing, and to develop a batch of replicable and popularizable "dual gigabit" deployment plans. By the end of 2023, 100 benchmark gigabit virtual private network projects will be built.

(IV) Actions to strengthen and supplement the industrial chain

11. Strengthen the research and development of core technologies and standards. Leading enterprises and scientific research institutions are encouraged to increase investment in the research and development of ultra-high-speed optical fiber transmission, next-generation optical network technology, and wireless communication technology, participate deeply in international standardization work, strengthen the development of group standards, and form the core competitiveness of my country's "dual gigabit" network technology.

12. Accelerate the maturity of terminals. Encourage terminal equipment companies to speed up the research and development of 5G terminals, improve the product performance of 5G terminals, and promote the maturity of various forms of 5G terminals such as smartphones that support SA/NSA dual-mode and multi-band, customer premise equipment (CPE), cloud XR, wearable devices, etc. Promote the development and promotion of home gateways, enterprise gateways, wireless routers and other equipment that support high-speed wireless LAN technology, and accelerate the integration of terminals such as mobile phones, computers, 4K/8K ultra-high-definition devices with flexible multi-access capabilities. Further reduce terminal costs, improve terminal performance and security, and stimulate the potential of information consumption.

13. Continue to improve industrial capabilities. Encourage companies such as optical fiber and cable, chip devices, and network equipment to continuously improve the level of advanced industrial foundations and modernization of industrial chains, and consolidate existing industrial advantages. Focus on improving the R&D and manufacturing level of core chips, network equipment, modules, and devices, promote the realization of self-reliance and self-improvement of my country's communications industry chain, and cultivate and expand the industrial ecology.

Column 3: “Dual Gigabit” Industrial Chain Strengthening and Supplementing Project

Strengthen the research and development of core technologies, encourage leading enterprises, scientific research institutions, etc. to increase R&D investment in technologies such as 800Gbps/1Tbps ultra-high-speed fiber transmission, 50G-PON, 5G Rel-17, millimeter wave communication, and high-speed wireless LAN to achieve technological innovation. Accelerate the breakthrough of industrial shortcomings, encourage optical fiber and cable, chip devices, network equipment and other enterprises to strengthen technical research and development for weak links such as 5G chips, high-speed PON chips, high-speed wireless LAN chips, high-speed optical modules, and high-performance devices, and improve manufacturing capabilities and process levels. Create industrial clusters, relying on existing domestic industrial advantage areas, to create strategic industrial clusters for "dual gigabit" networks and form scale synergy. By the end of 2023, breakthroughs in key core technologies will be achieved, and independent research and development capabilities will be greatly enhanced.

(V) User Experience Improvement Action

14. Continue to optimize network architecture. Expand the number of enterprises connected to new Internet exchange centers and the scale of traffic exchange, add at least two national-level Internet backbone direct connection points, and improve the all-round, multi-level, and three-dimensional interconnection system. Promote cloud service companies to continuously improve the key core technology capabilities of cloud computing, promote the construction of multi-access edge computing (MEC) edge cloud, and accelerate the application of new models and technologies such as cloud-edge collaboration and cloud-network integration. Promote content distribution network (CDN) companies to accelerate the deployment of CDN nodes in the western and northeastern regions, promote CDN expansion and sinking as needed, and realize local access to Internet content.

15. Focus on ensuring network quality. Guide basic telecommunications companies to strengthen the coordinated development of 5G and 4G networks, promote the re-cultivation and optimization and upgrading of 2G, 3G, and 4G frequencies, and improve the efficiency of network resource utilization. Support the development and deployment of multi-mode base station equipment to ensure the coverage needs of different network standards in urban hot spots, high-speed rail and subway lines, etc. Continue to improve the international Internet access bandwidth capacity and improve the international Internet access experience. Achieve an Internet inter-network bandwidth expansion of 10Tbps, and the Internet inter-network access performance is converging with developed countries in Europe and the United States. Promote Internet companies to improve service capabilities, ensure basic bandwidth configuration, and improve user service access experience.

16. Continuously improve service quality. Urge basic telecommunications companies to effectively improve the quality of 5G services, formulate and improve their own 5G service standards, and increase the service assessment of front-line windows such as physical business halls and customer service hotlines. Further improve the reminder mechanism, strictly observe the marketing red line, strictly investigate behaviors such as "forced promotion of 5G packages", "restrictions on users to change packages", and "exaggerated promotion of packages", and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the majority of users. Promote enterprises to reduce the average broadband and dedicated line charges for small and medium-sized enterprises, and reduce them by another 10% in 2021. Encourage the introduction of exclusive preferential rates for special groups such as rural poverty alleviation households (formerly registered poor households), the elderly, and the disabled, and reasonably reduce mobile phone, broadband and other communication costs.

Column 4: “Dual Gigabit” Network Development Evaluation Capability Enhancement Project

Improve the "dual gigabit" network development evaluation indicator system based on user experience. Guide relevant enterprises and research institutions to strengthen the construction and deployment of technical means such as dedicated terminals, 5G speed test apps, and speed test servers, and comprehensively adopt field tests, fixed-point tests, and user-friendly tests to enrich data sources and form a regional, time-based, and full-segment refined network development key indicator evaluation capability. Study the industry-oriented "dual gigabit" network evaluation system. Organize relevant enterprises and research institutions to conduct research on the "dual gigabit" network evaluation system based on the network performance requirements of different industries and scenarios, and select no less than 10 major industries and scenarios for field tests. Regularly publish authoritative data and reports. Guide the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology to regularly publish reports on the speed of my country's fixed broadband and mobile broadband networks, and publish network development evaluation reports for key cities and key places in a timely manner, so as to comprehensively and objectively reflect the development level of my country's "dual gigabit" networks and continuously optimize my country's "dual gigabit" network service capabilities.

(VI) Security Enhancement Actions

17. Improve network security protection capabilities. Promote the planning, construction, and operation of network security capabilities and "dual gigabit" network facilities, and improve network security and data security protection capabilities. Urge relevant companies to implement the main responsibility for network security, establish and improve security management systems and work mechanisms, conduct network security risk assessments and hidden danger inspections, and promptly prevent security risks in multiple aspects such as networks, equipment, physical environments, and management, and continuously improve network security protection capabilities.

18. Build a secure and reliable new information infrastructure. Encourage key network security companies to focus on key areas of information technology products, such as network planning and construction, to carry out core technology research, build an industrial ecosystem covering all aspects such as underlying facilities, key equipment, and network security products, build a secure, reliable and reliable new information infrastructure, and steadily improve the security of "dual gigabit" networks.

19. Ensure cross-industry network security. Encourage basic telecommunications companies, network security companies, industry units, etc. to strengthen network security collaboration in key industries such as medical care, education, and industry, and strengthen the prevention and response guidance of security risks in gigabit industry virtual private networks for diversified business scenarios, access methods, and equipment forms, and promote the safe co-construction and safe sharing of network facilities.

III. Safeguard Measures

(I) Strengthen organizational leadership. Local communications administration bureaus and basic telecommunications companies shall further strengthen organizational leadership, formulate annual implementation plans, and refine tasks and division of responsibilities. Actively promote the inclusion of the development of "dual gigabit" networks into the "14th Five-Year Plan" for national economic and social development and relevant special plans. Encourage the formulation and release of public resource open catalogs, and promote public facilities under government agencies, enterprises, institutions and public institutions to facilitate the construction of 5G base stations, indoor distribution systems, poles, pipelines and supporting facilities.

(II) Strengthen departmental coordination. Local communications administration bureaus shall establish a collaborative working mechanism with the departments of industry and information technology, housing and urban-rural development, market supervision, cybersecurity and informatization, etc., strengthen joint law enforcement capabilities and enforcement efforts, focus on joint rectification of the broadband access market in commercial buildings, and implementation of national standards for fiber-to-the-home in newly built civil buildings, so as to form a joint regulatory force. Coordinate with the power sector to reduce the electricity costs of 5G base stations.

(III) Enhance supervision capabilities. Continue to strengthen the construction of business ethics and rectification work, incorporate network and service quality into the evaluation system, and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of users. Guide upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, strengthen industry self-discipline, and create a healthy, orderly, and benignly developing industrial ecology.

(IV) Deepen exchanges and cooperation. Standardization organizations and industry associations should give full play to their role as technology leaders and bridges, actively carry out international benchmarking, and promote basic telecommunications companies, research institutes, equipment vendors, device vendors, chip vendors and other upstream and downstream industries to further strengthen technological research and collaborative innovation. Strengthen the exchange of experience and promotion of "dual gigabit" network deployment and application and new technologies.