Wenku: 5G terminal connections have exceeded 200 million

On December 24, 2020, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Wen Ku, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Information and Communications Development Department, answered questions from reporters and said that China's 5G is running fast this year, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is promoting it in accordance with the requirements of the central government. He said that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee clearly proposed to systematically lay out new infrastructure, accelerate the construction of 5G and big data centers, and accelerate digital development. Over the past year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, fully played the role of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as the competent department, vigorously promoted the development and application of 5G, accelerated the construction of 5G networks, and achieved relatively good results. Wen Ku introduced the achievements of 5G construction in four aspects.

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First, network construction is progressing steadily. According to an inventory, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has added about 580,000 5G base stations this year, and promoted the construction and sharing of 330,000 5G base stations. This is a step further than the previous concept of sharing. In the past, sharing meant putting two base stations on one tower, which was sharing. Now, sharing is a higher level and more scientific sharing, which means that one base station can be used by two companies, which is equivalent to the original two base stations. The effect is very good, and it is used on a large scale, and the effect is excellent. So far, the goal set by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology at the beginning of the year is that all cities and prefectures have 5G coverage, and it has been achieved.

Second, in terms of terminals, from January to November, the domestic market shipped 144 million 5G mobile phones, and a total of 199 new mobile phone models were launched, accounting for about half of all mobile phones, one is 51.4%, and the other is 47.7%.

Third, the number of users is growing very fast, with more than 200 million 5G terminals connected.

Fourth, application. This is a major part of the MIIT's promotion of 5G. Before the 5G license was issued, the MIIT felt that application was more arduous than 5G research and development. Since 2018, the MIIT has organized the "Blooming Cup" 5G Application Competition every year. This year's third competition collected more than 4,000 5G application cases reported by everyone. There were only more than 300 in the first year, so it is still developing very fast. These projects have demonstrated unexpected and very useful effects in hot areas such as smart manufacturing, medical care, and energy. For example, this year's first prize project involves application models in multiple scenarios such as mines, ports, and manufacturing, and it is relatively clear. Originally, they were all groping for how to use it, but now it is clear and can be copied to other industries. From this point of view, with joint efforts, the speed of application landing will be accelerated.

Wen Ku pointed out that the construction of 5G is to lay the foundation for applications, and the ultimate goal of 5G is to make good use of 5G. In the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will resolutely implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, continue to advance relevant work, and further promote the construction, application and development of 5G to achieve a good ecology.

He said that the first thing is to build it well. We must coordinate deployment and promote the construction of information infrastructure. In accordance with the principle of moderate advancement, we must solidly promote the construction of 5G networks. On the basis of 5G networks reaching a certain scale, we must advance from large-scale construction and wide coverage to on-demand construction and deep coverage, closely following the needs of different scenarios, and build high-quality 5G networks. While networks and terminals are developing rapidly, data centers must also keep up. Data centers must not only build computer rooms and improve electricity and transmission, but also improve the level of applications and services. In terms of cloud service goods 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. In the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will work with relevant departments to further optimize the layout of data center construction, improve the level of application development, and gradually improve the types of applications, cloud service capabilities, application depth and software richness, so as to strongly support the needs of 5G and the digital development of all walks of life.

Second, we need to apply it well. 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 applying 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.

Third, develop well. We should strengthen technological innovation, continue to promote 5G technology research and development experiments, accelerate the maturity of technical products such as network slicing, edge computing, chip modules, and instrumentation, enhance the basic support capabilities of the industry, increase the intensity of millimeter wave experiments, and promote the maturity of millimeter wave products. Accelerate the mature application of the R16 standard, and at the same time promote the continuous evolution of the subsequent R17 and R18 standards. In addition, we must look to the future, carry out 6G vision research, and promote the sustainable development of the mobile communications industry.

Finally, Wen Ku said that local governments have actively promoted the development of 5G, especially in terms of network construction and application promotion. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology would like to thank local governments for their support. At the same time, it is hoped that local governments will have a comprehensive and reasonable expectation for the development of 5G, not only focusing on the goal of network construction, but also working together on 5G applications. Although the current efforts to promote 5G applications in various places are still very strong, it is far from enough compared with the difficulties faced by China and the future development needs. It is also necessary to combine the development of local economy and industry, further strengthen the summary, promotion and exploration of 5G applications, and form a benign development model of "promoting use by construction and promoting construction by use".