The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology sets the tone for the four major 5G operators to deploy in 2021

After a turbulent 2020, China's 5G network construction has developed rapidly and achieved excellent results that are leading the world. According to the National Industrial and Information Technology Work Conference held recently, my country has built the world's largest optical fiber and 4G networks, and the overall strength of the 5G industry has ranked among the world's high-end.

2020 is the final year of the 13th Five-Year Plan and the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan. The development of various industries in China in the next five years will also show signs in 2021. Where will China's 5G go in 2021?

Goal: 600,000 base stations, strengthening 5G application innovation

Recently, China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom have successively released their latest operating data. China Telecom has 351 million mobile users, of which 79.48 million are 5G package users. China Mobile has a total of 943 million customers, of which 147 million are 5G package customers. China Unicom had a total of 307 million users in November, of which 269 million were 4G users. Unicom did not disclose the specific number of its 5G users.

Wen Ku, spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Information and Communications Development Department, said in response to reporters' questions on the 24th that the number of 5G terminal connections in China has exceeded 200 million. In the next step, we will resolutely implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, continue to advance relevant work, and further promote 5G to achieve a good ecosystem of good construction, good application, and good development. We will strengthen technological innovation and continue to promote 5G technology research and development trials. In addition, we must look to the future, conduct 6G vision research, and promote the sustainable development of the mobile communications industry.

On December 21 and 27, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile, the three major operators, held annual work meetings. Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, attended and delivered speeches, emphasizing the need to accelerate 5G technology innovation, strengthen the research and development of key technologies such as chips, terminal modules, edge computing, and network slicing. Improve the innovation capabilities of cloud network technology and deeply tap the potential of DICT integration. Vigorously promote the research on 6G vision and needs, and strengthen the pre-research and reserve of key technologies.

Liu Liehong proposed the following five work arrangements: first, to promote a more solid foundation for infrastructure builders; second, to promote stronger energy for technology innovation promoters; third, to promote a wider influence for integration ecosystem shapers; fourth, to promote a better reputation for quality service demonstrators; and fifth, to promote greater vitality for mechanism reform explorers.

At the 2021 National Industrial and Information Technology Work Conference held on the 28th, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing stated that in 2021, the construction and application of 5G networks will be promoted in an orderly manner, 5G coverage in major cities will be accelerated, joint construction and sharing will be promoted, and more than 600,000 new 5G base stations will be built.

Previously, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom to hold a symposium on 5G frequency usage, and issued ten-year 5G medium and low frequency band frequency usage licenses to the three basic telecommunications operators.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has set a grand pace for the development of 5G in China in 2021. So what measures will the four major 5G operators take?

China Unicom 5G in 2021

Data shows that in the first half of this year, China Unicom achieved service revenue of RMB 138.3 billion, up 4.0% year-on-year, higher than the industry average of 3.2%, and the development speed is leading the industry. Cost efficiency continues to be optimized and profitability is further enhanced. The profit attributable to the company's equity holders reached RMB 7.6 billion, up 10.1% year-on-year.

Earlier news said that China Unicom and China Telecom have jointly built and shared more than 330,000 5G base stations, and have SA basic network capabilities. In terms of terminals, China Unicom continues to promote the "four modernizations" of 5G terminals, namely 5G mobile phones, universal standards, popular prices, and ubiquitous terminals. So far, China Unicom has jointly launched 141 5G mobile phones from 14 brands, 32 modules from 13 brands, and 22 5G data terminals with its partners.

At an industry conference in mid-December, Miao Shouye, head of China Unicom's 5G co-construction and sharing working group, pointed out that China Unicom is one of the first operators in the world to realize SA commercial networks. In June this year, China Unicom announced the commercial use of 2B SA networks; in September, 2C SA was commercialized; in November, China Unicom realized the world's first commercial slice in Beijing and Guangdong; it is expected that by 2021, 5G slices will be commercialized nationwide.

China Mobile 5G in 2021

On December 27, China Mobile held its 2021 work conference in Beijing. The conference proposed to promote digital transformation and achieve high-quality development as the main line, accelerate the "three transformations", expand the "three transformations", deepen the "three integrations", enhance the "three forces", implement the "5G+" plan in depth, and accelerate the construction of a world-class "power building" to welcome the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China with a good start in the "14th Five-Year Plan".

Yang Jie, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Mobile, said that it is necessary to build a first-class new infrastructure, vigorously build a digital and intelligent integrated infrastructure centered on 5G, adhere to intensive and efficient, deepen integrated innovation, strengthen operation and maintenance management, and promote the network scale, performance, and experience to a new level.

In the work report of Dong Xin, general manager of China Mobile, it was revealed that China Mobile has exceeded its annual 5G construction target ahead of schedule, opened more than 390,000 5G base stations, provided 5G services to all prefecture-level cities and some key county towns across the country, and led 99 5G international standard projects. In 2021, the focus will be on accelerating the full operation of 5G, deepening the implementation of the "5G+" plan, and creating high-quality 5G, easy-to-use 5G, open 5G, and secure 5G.

China Telecom 5G in 2021

Also on December 27, China Telecom Group Co., Ltd. held its 2021 annual work conference in Beijing. The meeting reviewed and summarized the work in 2020, analyzed the new situation, and studied and deployed key work tasks for 2021.

At the meeting, it was pointed out that in 2020, China Telecom's business revenue continued to grow, and the main business revenue of the communications industry continued to grow, which has been higher than the industry average for 9 consecutive years. 5G users, broadband users, Tianyi HD users and IoT users have grown rapidly. In the promotion of key projects, the construction and development of 5G networks and Tianyi Cloud are the top priorities. So far, China Telecom has built and opened 203,000 5G base stations, shared 162,000 stations, and opened nearly 365,000 stations in the entire network.

Ke Ruiwen, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Telecom Group, said that 5G SA has been officially put into commercial use, and innovative products such as network slicing, low latency, super uplink, and customized private networks will be launched one after another. 5G has ushered in a new round of technology industry cycle dividends. Cloud-network integration and industry ecosystem construction have become the key to 5G value realization, and the new business model of "5G+cloud+industry" has driven the value chain upward.

In 2021, China Telecom will focus on five major directions: cloud-network integration, 5G and edge cloud, digitalization, network security, and cutting-edge technologies. It will strive to build a secure and controllable national cloud, fully promote data center construction, steadily advance 5G network construction, open up differentiated cloud-network capabilities, and build a digital platform.

China Broadcasting and Television 5G in 2021

When talking about 5G operators, China Radio and Television is often overlooked. In fact, among the four major operators that have obtained 5G commercial licenses, China Radio and Television's 700M frequency band can be regarded as the golden frequency band. Compared with the 3.5G and 4.9G of the other three operators, the 700M frequency band network only requires one-tenth of the number of competitors to achieve the same coverage scale.

Song Qizhu, Chairman of China Radio and Television, once said that China Radio and Television will leverage the content advantages of the radio and television industry to drive the scale and commercialization of the 5G+ content industry and form a strong support for the digital economy. With the help of the radio and television 5G network, we will strive to create high-tech videos under the background of the smart radio and television strategy, and provide a series of support guarantees from solutions to technological evolution for the implementation of national policies in the media field.

It is revealed that China Radio and Television 5G is expected to build 400,000 5G base stations in 2021, and the relevant parties have actually proposed a plan of 450,000 to 500,000. 400,000 radio and television 700MHz base stations can cover more than 90% of the administrative villages in the country. Therefore, if the progress goes well, 700MHz may achieve full coverage of radio and television 5G by the end of next year.

However, China Radio and Television is still in its infancy in terms of base station construction, lacking the existing foundation of the other three major operators. In the middle of this year, China Radio and Television recruited a position responsible for "co-construction and sharing". Perhaps China Radio and Television will join forces with one or more of the three major operators to realize the plan of 5G base stations covering the whole country.