Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Plans to build 600,000 new 5G base stations in 2021

On January 26, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the development of industry and information technology in 2020. Zhao Zhiguo, spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Information and Communications Administration, pointed out that the important role of 5G in empowering entities, benefiting society, and serving the people is constantly being demonstrated, and is increasingly becoming an important driving force to support high-quality economic development.

Zhao Zhiguo, spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Information and Communications Administration (Photo courtesy of China News Service, Liu Jian)

He summarized the overall development of the 5G industry in 2020. Zhao Zhiguo said that in 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with relevant departments and all parties in the industry, continuously improved policy measures and continued to increase investment. my country's 5G commercial development should be said to have taken solid steps. It is understood that more than 600,000 new 5G base stations were built throughout the year, achieving full coverage of 5G networks in all cities at or above the prefecture level; the number of 5G terminal connections exceeded 200 million, and many industries seized the major opportunities brought by 5G commercial use to accelerate the digitalization of the industry; there were more than 1,100 5G+ industrial Internet projects, and 5G+ remote consultation was put into use in more than 60 hospitals in 19 provinces. New models and new formats such as 5G+ autonomous driving, 5G+ smart grid, and 5G+ distance education continued to emerge.

Regarding the work priorities for 5G development in 2021, Zhao Zhiguo stated that 2021 is the first year of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. Faced with the mission and tasks of the new development stage, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and instructions, and in accordance with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, focus on three aspects of work to promote 5G to better empower thousands of industries and present a variety of forms.

First, we will improve network coverage. In accordance with the principle of moderate advancement, we will continue to deepen the deployment of 5G network construction. In 2021, we plan to build 600,000 new 5G base stations. On the basis of achieving deep coverage in cities at or above the prefecture level, we will accelerate the extension to counties and towns with conditions, guide local governments to increase support for 5G network construction, further implement relevant policies such as 5G site locations and electricity consumption, and promote 5G virtual private networks and other methods to build networks in key areas such as industry, energy, transportation, medical care, and education as needed, so as to achieve wider coverage and more levels of 5G network coverage.

Second, enhance application innovation capabilities. Cultivate emerging consumption models such as 5G+ augmented reality, 5G+ virtual reality, and immersive games, promote the integration of 5G into life services such as health, elderly care, and housekeeping, continuously enhance the people's sense of gain and happiness, accelerate the use of 5G technology to transform the network of traditional industries, optimize production processes, create typical scenarios such as remote control, quality inspection, and intelligent logistics, and help enterprises reduce costs, improve quality, and increase efficiency, and achieve green and energy-saving development. Continue to hold the "Blooming Cup" 5G application competition and application pilot demonstrations to promote the implementation of excellent results. Optimize the application development environment.

The third is to enhance the basic capabilities of the industry. According to the introduction process of 5G international standards R17, R18 and other versions, accelerate the research and development and deployment of key technologies such as network slicing, edge computing, and 5G enhancement, accelerate the research and development and industrialization process of key products and devices such as customized and economical 5G chips, modules, and terminals, further increase the efforts to tackle the shortcomings of the industry, ensure the security of the supply chain and industrial chain, continue to organize and carry out 5G millimeter wave experiments, and plan ahead and systematically layout the future development of the industry.