There is no problem in reaching 56% 5G penetration rate in the 14th Five-Year Plan

Zhang Yunyong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and general manager of China Unicom's product center, recently told a reporter from China Securities Journal that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the large-scale deployment of 5G networks will be accelerated, and there will be no problem in reaching a 5G penetration rate of 56%.

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Zhang Yunyong revealed that last year, telecom operators built more than 700,000 5G base stations, covering more than 300 major urban areas in my country. This year, operators are expected to build 700,000 5G base stations, covering county towns and even villages. "The actual 5G penetration rate is expected to be higher in 2025."

5G industrial modules are the key

Zhang Yunyong emphasized that in addition to quantity, quality is more important, "for example, better user experience and faster speed. In addition to 5G personal applications, more attention is paid to the implementation of 5G in industrial Internet and industrial Internet."

According to the plan, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 5G-based application scenarios and industrial ecosystems will be built, and pilot demonstrations will be carried out in key areas such as smart transportation, smart logistics, smart energy, and smart medical care.

In the application of "5G+Industrial Internet", Zhang Yunyong pointed out that 5G industrial modules are the key, but the current cost is high. my country has a complete range of industries, but the levels of various industries are uneven, and the industry's demand for 5G industrial modules has not yet risen. "5G modules are a fragmented and long-tail market with high R&D costs and low marginal benefits. The application of 5G Industrial Internet is still in its early stages, and the price of 5G modules is very high. I hope that after a period of scale, the price can be reduced." For imported industrial machinery and equipment, there are also constraints in terms of interface openness and protocol docking.

Zhang Yunyong suggested that the technical difficulties of network interconnection technology within the factory and the intercommunication between heterogeneous protocol data should be overcome as soon as possible. It is recommended that relevant departments accelerate the promotion and implementation of 5G industrial modules, network facilities and supporting applications in the industrial field.

Working together to reduce operating costs

Zhang Yunyong introduced that the energy consumption of 5G equipment is three times that of 4G and the operating cost is high.

It is estimated that the electricity bills of the three operators alone will total 250 billion yuan in 2025. The high electricity bill will become an important factor restricting the rapid deployment and development of 5G.

Regarding the high energy consumption and high operating costs of 5G equipment, Zhang Yunyong said, "We have been working in both directions." Equipment manufacturers have reduced the power consumption of 5G equipment by optimizing protocols, upgrading standards, iterating chips and other measures. At the same time, we have reached a consensus with the State Grid and the Southern Grid to gradually convert the indirect power supply into direct power supply. In addition, some local governments have introduced subsidy policies to promote the development of 5G new infrastructure. "The high electricity bill problem faced by 5G has improved. However, only by strengthening the business and expanding the scale can costs be effectively reduced through flattening."

According to Zhang Yunyong's calculation, if a 5G network with the same coverage level as the existing 4G is built, 700MHz can reduce the construction investment of wireless equipment, optical cables, transmission systems, etc. by about 190 billion yuan compared with 3.5GHz, and save about 20 billion yuan in operating costs such as electricity and rental fees each year. It is recommended to give full play to the advantages of the 700MHz "digital gold" frequency band in signal coverage and frequency division duplex delay, and coordinate the four 5G communication operators to jointly carry out the construction and sharing of the 700MHz low-frequency 5G network.

"700MHz has irreplaceable advantages in building and improving universal 5G coverage in rural and remote areas, and is of great significance to eliminating the digital divide." Zhang Yunyong said that most of my country's 700MHz low-frequency resources have been allocated to China Radio and Television. China Radio and Television and China Mobile have announced that the two sides will jointly build and share 700MHz. It is recommended to build a nationwide low-frequency 5G shared access network, which will be shared and used by the four basic telecommunications operators to avoid duplication of construction and maintain relatively balanced development of the industry.