5G: Number of terminal connections exceeds 200 million

2020 is the first year of large-scale construction after 5G is officially commercialized. As of the end of November this year, the total number of 5G base stations built in my country exceeded 620,000, and 330,000 5G base stations were built in a co-construction and sharing manner. The number of 5G terminal connections has exceeded 200 million. From January to November this year, the domestic market shipments of 5G mobile phones reached 144 million units. In November, the three major basic telecommunications operators announced the official commercial use of 5G SA. The development speed of 5G in China can be said to be rapid. In 2021, it is planned to build 600,000 new 5G base stations. The industry estimates that the final construction scale will far exceed this number. Recently, Wu Hequan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that there should be no problem in building 1 million base stations in 2021.

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In March this year, China proposed the "new infrastructure" and wanted to make 5G the vanguard of the "new infrastructure", so that 5G networks can be superimposed with cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence, and widely used in urban management, transportation, energy, education, agriculture and other industries, becoming the new cornerstone of China's digital transformation. It can be said that from the policy environment to market demand, China's new economy is being driven by 5G as an engine to form a new circulation mode.

5G coverage nationwide SA scale commercial use

From the perspective of the overall global 5G construction, China's 5G construction is characterized by fast speed, large scale and high technical level.

Fast speed. It is reported that my country builds more than 10,000 5G base stations every week. On September 10, the first anniversary of China Telecom and China Unicom's joint construction and sharing, the two companies announced that they had built 300,000 5G base stations, achieving 5G network coverage in all prefecture-level cities across the country. By November, the number of jointly built and shared base stations had increased to 330,000. On November 20, Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile, said at its partner conference that China Mobile has built 385,000 5G base stations, which has exceeded the annual goal of building 350,000 5G base stations.

Large scale. As of the end of June this year, 720,000 5G base stations have been built worldwide, of which China accounts for 50%. Chen Ming, chief technology officer of Ericsson (China) Communications Co., Ltd., told reporters: "I originally predicted that the total number of 5G base stations in China would account for 60% to 70% of the world by the end of this year, but in fact, by September, the total number of 5G base stations in China has exceeded 60%. So for communication manufacturers, the Chinese market is very important."

High technical level. From 2019 to now, all the 5G networks used in foreign commercial use have adopted non-independent networking. The advantage is that the network can be built quickly and at a low cost, but the disadvantage is that the technical advantages of 5G such as low latency and large connections cannot be brought into play. China's 5G adopts a hybrid networking method of independent and non-independent networking. The target network is the 5G SA network, which takes into account both investment costs and network functions. In November, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom successively announced the realization of large-scale commercial use of 5G SA nationwide, becoming the world's largest country to commercialize 5G SA on a large scale.

On December 24, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Wen Ku, spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Information and Communications Development Department, said that it is necessary to coordinate deployment and promote the construction of information infrastructure. In accordance with the principle of moderate advancement, we should solidly promote the construction of 5G networks. On the basis of 5G networks reaching a certain scale, we should move from large-scale construction and wide coverage to on-demand construction and deep coverage, closely follow the needs of different scenarios, and build high-quality 5G networks. Wen Ku proposed that while 5G networks and terminals are developing rapidly, data centers should also keep up. Data centers should not only build computer rooms and improve electricity and transmission, but also improve the level of applications and services. In terms of cloud services and software applications, Internet companies and operating companies need to increase their efforts in this regard and keep up with the world's advanced level.

5G application starts with building a lighthouse project

What is the "killer" application of 5G? This question has been with us since the introduction of 5G technology. Industry experts believe that in the next three years, 5G will still be in the "introduction period" and we need to maintain our focus and make steady progress to promote the successful commercial use of 5G. At present, the development of 2C business in my country's 5G applications is progressing steadily, but 2B and 2G business are still in the early stages of development. There is no ready-made experience to follow. It takes time to explore and practice, and we should look at it objectively and rationally.

Unlike 4G, the world is facing unprecedented challenges in 5G applications, and 5G applications also have a wider range of application space and fields. 5G provides a good foundation for applications in various industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and medical care. In promoting the application of 5G in various industries, in addition to meeting the differentiated needs of the industry, telecom operators also have to do a lot of work. For example, in terms of network architecture, business management, network operation and maintenance, adaptive adjustments should be made according to new application scenarios to make the network of enterprises using 5G simpler, easier to use, and easier to operate. Telecom companies, Internet companies, vertical industry application companies, as well as integrated development companies and solution providers that can promote 5G, all these companies must deepen collaboration, especially give full play to the catalytic role of 5G solution providers, promote collaboration among all parties, and jointly promote the integration and development of 5G with various fields of the real economy such as manufacturing, energy, transportation, and agriculture, and accelerate the digitalization, networking, and intelligent transformation of traditional industries.

Although the 5G "killer application" is not clear now, we can see some clues in the semi-annual financial reports of operators in the first half of this year. China's digital transformation is advancing rapidly, especially during the epidemic in the first half of this year. Enterprises that have implemented digital transformation can better seize opportunities and improve efficiency, which has also become a huge driving force for the digital transformation of enterprises, industries, and government management.

In the digital transformation, 5G, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things together form the foundation of the digital economy.

For example, in the field of 5G+Industrial Internet, 5G+Industrial Internet promotes core production links such as industrial design, manufacturing, quality inspection, operation and maintenance, and safety, and has formed collaborative design, simulation verification, assisted assembly, precise control, flexible processing, non-destructive testing, remote maintenance, unmanned inspection and other application scenarios in key areas such as aviation, steel, mining, energy, and automobiles.

In terms of 5G+new media, new technologies such as "5G+ultra-high definition", "5G+AR/VR", and "5G+holographic" are booming, forming a number of typical application scenarios and cases such as new media platforms and mobile studios based on 5G technology.

Currently, the three major operators are promoting cross-border cooperation, focusing on key areas to establish a 5G application ecosystem, and enhancing the persuasiveness of 5G+ vertical industries to achieve large-scale commercial use by creating "model rooms" for lighthouse projects and industry applications.

"Build to Promote Use" to Promote 5G Development

From 1G to 4G, the main battlefield of mobile communications has always been to solve the communication between people, which is also a market familiar to operators and the entire industry. The development speed of 5G individual users is also very fast compared with 4G. Take China Mobile alone as an example. In the first year of 4G (TD-LTE) commercial use, China Mobile developed more than 10 million users; in the first year of 5G commercial use, China Mobile's 5G package users exceeded 70 million.

Whether 5G can maintain such a growth rate, the fundamental driving force comes from applications and services. Experts believe that adhering to a moderately advanced construction rhythm will form a virtuous model of "building to promote use". From the perspective of the relationship between network and application, a moderately advanced network is the foundation for application development.

In order to meet the needs of building a leading 5G network and creating a cloud strategic infrastructure, China Mobile's capital expenditure budget for 2020 is 179.8 billion yuan. Among them, 5G-related investment plans are about 100 billion yuan, and another investment focus is the construction of cloud computing infrastructure such as data centers.

According to a report by Zhiyan Consulting, from 2020 to 2023, the market size of China's 5G infrastructure equipment will be more than 100 billion yuan, of which 2021 will be the year with the largest investment, and these four years can also be regarded as the peak period of 5G construction investment. In order to reduce investment pressure, China Telecom and China Unicom, China Mobile and China Broadcasting Corporation are promoting network construction in a co-construction and sharing manner. Miao Shouye, leader of China Unicom's 5G co-construction and sharing working group, said that through co-construction and sharing, the construction and operation costs of 5G networks can be significantly saved, and the TCO savings are significant. After sharing, CAPEX (capital expenditure) is expected to save about 40%, and OPEX (operating expenditure) will save about 35% each year.

The initial investment in 5G network construction is large, but 5G also has the characteristics of strong penetration. In the fields of smart education, smart factories, smart transportation, etc., the demand for 5G is very clear. Not only that, in scenarios such as smart ports and smart mines, 5G will be a must-have network. 5G is a powerful tool to promote digital transformation and cultivate new momentum for economic development. Although the initial construction investment is large, in the long run, 5G has strong penetration and wide radiation, which will promote the formation of a new development pattern of the digital economy.