How to eliminate 5G network blind spots in rural areas?

The vast rural areas are also a key link in the construction of 5G networks. How can we achieve a win-win situation in terms of coverage and cost in sparsely populated towns and rural markets?

On the occasion of the 2021 National Two Sessions, Zhang Yunyong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and general manager of China Unicom Group Product Center, suggested in his proposal: Use the 700MHz frequency band in rural areas to build a nationwide low-frequency 5G shared access network, which will be shared and used by the four basic operators.

The 700MHz frequency band is the first choice and irreplaceable in rural 5G network construction

The 700MHz frequency band is recognized as a golden frequency band in the industry. It was previously used for radio and television, and has strong signal penetration and wide coverage. According to calculations, only 400,000 base stations are needed to build a national 5G network using the 700Mhz frequency band, while the three major operators need to build 6 million 5G macro base stations. This is a great advantage for 5G wide-area coverage in rural and remote areas.

According to Zhang Yunyong, to achieve the same coverage effect in typical rural areas, the number of base stations required for 700MHz in wide coverage scenarios is 1/5 of that for 2.6GHz, 1/6 of that for 3.5GHz, and 1/9 of that for 4.9GHz. 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 to 3.5GHz, and save about 20 billion yuan in operating costs such as electricity and rental fees each year.

In March 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on adjusting the frequency use plan of the 700MHz band, adjusting the frequency use plan of the 702-798MHz band for mobile communications, and planning the 703-743/758-798MHz band for mobile communication systems in frequency division duplex working mode.

In May 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a frequency use license to China Radio and Television upon application, allowing it to use the 703-733/758-788MHz frequency bands to deploy 5G networks in batches and steps across the country.

But please note: in addition to the 2x30MHz spectrum resources obtained by China Radio and Television, there are 2x10MHz (733-743/788-798MHz) and uplink 5MHz (748-758MHz) that have not yet been assigned.

"The current distribution of communication spectrum resources in my country limits the large-scale deployment of 5G in rural areas. 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 they will jointly build and share 700MHz. Although this can enhance their own communication service capabilities, compared with international common practices, the unbalanced distribution will lead to a huge gap in operators' rural 5G inclusive service capabilities, aggravating the imbalance in the industry and being unfair to users covered by the other two operators, especially rural users in remote areas." Zhang Yunyong said in the proposal.

Recently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting Rural Revitalization and Accelerating Agricultural and Rural Modernization", proposing the full launch of the rural construction action in 2021. In vigorously implementing the rural construction action, including strengthening the construction of rural public infrastructure, it is clearly stated that "promote the synchronous planning and construction of rural gigabit optical networks, fifth-generation mobile communications (5G), and mobile Internet of Things with cities. Improve the universal telecommunications service compensation mechanism and support the construction of information and communication infrastructure in rural and remote areas."

"The digital rural mobile communication infrastructure and 700MHz spectrum resources are positioned as basic public resources covering all mobile communication users, including the rural population." Zhang Yunyong said, "The 700MHz frequency band is currently the only low-frequency band in China that can be used for 5G deployment. It is recommended to use this frequency band to build and share through the joint participation of all parties. A nationwide low-frequency 5G shared access network will be built for the above-mentioned users, and shared access will be shared by the four basic operators to avoid duplication and maintain relatively balanced development of the industry. Promote fair competition and sustainable development, benefit all rural users, ensure consistent user experience and data security, ensure sharing upon activation, and determine a reasonable settlement mechanism and price through negotiation. Jointly promote all-network 5G 700MHz terminals for the nationwide low-frequency 5G shared access network and 5G terminal modules and applications for digital rural development."

Is it possible to build and share 5G in rural areas?

The idea of ​​5G co-construction and sharing in rural areas is not groundless. As early as last year, at China Unicom's first-half performance briefing, Wang Xiaochu, chairman of China Unicom, revealed: "We are also actively striving for 5G in rural areas to see if it is possible for Unicom, Telecom and Mobile to jointly build it to make the three companies more efficient."

At the beginning of this year, when China Mobile and China Broadcasting Corporation announced to jointly build and share 5G, people from the other two operators said that the cooperation between China Mobile and China Broadcasting Corporation to build a 700MHz 5G network will rapidly improve network coverage, greatly save costs, and have good benefits. "Good signal" will become the 5G signature of the two. "This is a huge pressure for China Telecom and China Unicom, which are not rich to begin with. Although the joint construction and sharing of China Telecom and China Unicom has achieved good results and saved a lot of money, it is still difficult to compete with competitors in terms of wide coverage without 700MHz spectrum resources. In addition, with the realization of nationwide number portability, customer loss in rural and remote areas is inevitable."

Afterwards, there were rumors in the industry that "China Telecom and China Unicom will also participate in the 700MHz industry and share 700MHz by leasing or roaming with other networks, especially in rural areas."

In this way, China Telecom and China Unicom will have a 700MHz+2.1GHz+3.5GHz spectrum combination, and their 5G networks will have large capacity and wide coverage capabilities, which will not only save the cost of 5G network construction, but also enable rapid network construction.

However, there will be some problems. Independent telecom analyst Fu Liang said: "If 5G network frequency bands are widely promoted for co-construction and sharing, operators' networks and services will be separated, which will reduce operators' enthusiasm for investment in network construction because they can roam to competitors' networks when there is no signal. This will reduce operators' enthusiasm for network construction and maintenance. At that time, network quality assurance becomes a problem."