Wang Chunhui: 5G releases three major functions to drive China on the path of high-quality development

On June 6, 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued 5G commercial licenses to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Broadcasting Corporation. my country officially entered the first year of 5G commercialization, one year ahead of the original plan of 2020. Wang Chunhui, professor at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and chief expert of the Information Industry Development Strategy Research Institute, said in an exclusive interview recently: "Practice has proved that my country's early entry into the first year of 5G commercialization has great strategic significance."

Wang Chunhui pointed out that the biggest difference between 5G and 4G is that 4G changes life, while 5G will change society. Since 5G entered commercial use in my country, it has fully released three major functions: basic support, innovation-driven, and integrated leadership. These three functions are promoting the deep integration of 5G with various fields of the economy and society, which will greatly promote the high-quality development of my country's economy and actively promote supply-side structural reforms.

Basic support: 5G network construction is in full swing, and the upstream and downstream industrial chains are being constructed

On May 17, World Telecommunication Day, 2020, the four major telecom operators (China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Broadcasting Corporation) respectively showcased their respective 5G development achievements over the past year.

At present, China Mobile has built 124,000 5G base stations, covering 56 cities across the country, and the scale of 5G package users has exceeded 50 million; China Unicom and China Telecom have jointly built and shared site and spectrum resources, and jointly built more than 100,000 5G base stations, and realized 5G commercial use in more than 50 cities in 31 provinces across the country; China Radio and Television has decided to adopt the independent networking (SA) mode, minimalist architecture solution, low-frequency + medium-frequency multi-frequency superposition, FDD + TDD collaborative networking technical path, and signed a 5G co-construction and sharing cooperation framework agreement with China Mobile. The two parties will invest in a 1:1 ratio to jointly build a 700M 5G wireless network.

Wang Chunhui said that in the past year since 5G was commercialized, an industrial chain based on 5G is being constructed: at the upstream level, a 5G mobile communication infrastructure is gradually taking shape, mainly including network planning, base station construction, transmission network, bearer network and core network construction; at the midstream level, 5G mobile communication operator services are initially formed, mainly network construction, network planning, design and maintenance, as well as various 5G application services of the four major operators; at the downstream level, a wealth of smart terminals and application scenarios are being formed. The most obvious feature is that the scope of smart terminals in the 5G era is no longer limited to mobile phones, and application scenarios have been introduced into VR/AR, Internet of Vehicles, enhanced mobile broadband, industrial Internet, a new generation of smart cities, telemedicine, etc.

Innovation-driven: 5G has "three super" functions and will start a new round of information industry revolution

The government work report at this year's two sessions clearly pointed out that we should strengthen the construction of new infrastructure, develop a new generation of information networks, and expand 5G applications. Wang Chunhui introduced that the biggest difference between "new infrastructure" and traditional infrastructure is that "new infrastructure" is based on high technology, especially digital technology. "New infrastructure" is not only a new public service system to ensure the normal, stable and safe operation of the economy and society, but also an important guarantee for realizing the modernization of national governance capabilities and systems.

The 5G network itself belongs to the "new infrastructure" and is also the network infrastructure that supports other "new infrastructure". 5G has the "three super" functions of ultra-high speed, ultra-low latency and ultra-large connection, which is bound to start a new round of information industry revolution and build and form an ecological industry chain based on 5G.

Wang Chunhui suggested that my country should work on expanding 5G applications from the following three aspects: first, to study and introduce 5G cross-industry application guidance policies and integration standards, and build a new industrial integration ecosystem based on 5G; second, to further deepen the integrated development of 5G with vertical industries such as industry, medical care, education, and Internet of Vehicles, especially to expand development opportunities in business areas such as online education, online medical care, and remote office, and release emerging consumption potential; third, to focus on accelerating the integrated application of "5G+Industrial Internet" and promote the digitalization, networking, and intelligent transformation of traditional industries.

The sudden outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic at the beginning of this year, various regions have led the "new infrastructure" through 5G, actively leveraged the driving role of 5G in new infrastructure and related industries, and comprehensively built key infrastructure for the digital transformation of the economy and society. It has greatly increased my country's investment and consumption demand, and further expanded new space for innovation and entrepreneurship from online to offline, from consumption to production, from platform to ecology, accelerating economic transformation and upgrading, and providing strong guarantees for promoting high-quality economic and social development.

Integration leadership: Taking advantage of the situation and building an ecological industry chain based on 5G

5G is not only a new generation of mobile communication technology, but also a new integrated network that provides connectivity between people, people and things, and things and things with integrated and unified standards.

Wang Chunhui pointed out that at present, my country's 5G development has achieved certain results, but it also faces many difficulties and challenges, mainly manifested in: the maturity of 5G technology and industry still needs to be improved; the application model based on 5G network vertical industries still needs further research and exploration; 5G network slicing, edge computing and other aspects still have many theoretical and practical problems; 5G faces more network security issues and the risks may be greater; there is a huge talent gap in all links of the 5G "new infrastructure" industrial chain; the international competition of the 5G industry faces a complex situation, and the domestic industrial chain still faces challenges in terms of integrity and competitiveness.

In view of this, Wang Chunhui put forward the following suggestions for the development of 5G construction in my country:

First, we should strengthen overall coordination, take supply-side structural reform as the main line, and issue national-level 5G development guidelines as soon as possible; all regions should proceed from reality, take appropriate measures according to the economic, environmental, and resource distribution conditions of different regions, strengthen overall coordination, and must not build blindly, especially to avoid duplicate construction.

Second, research and introduce guiding policies and integration standards for 5G cross-industry applications, further deepen the integrated development and application of 5G with vertical industries such as industry, medical care, education, energy, transportation, security, and Internet of Vehicles, and drive and give birth to many new application scenarios and industries through integrated development and application.

Third, respect the market rules and the evolution path of 5G technology. The development of 5G needs to start from reality, find the focus, and advance in an orderly manner. Avoid blindly following the trend and acting arbitrarily. 5G technology should follow the "80/20 rule" at the application level, that is, 20% for traditional consumer Internet and 80% for the Internet of Things, especially the industrial Internet.

Fourth, relevant national departments jointly formulate 5G technology and industry talent training plans, establish a 5G talent training plan with enterprises as the main body and participation of multiple departments such as universities and research institutions, establish and improve the 5G industry "production, education, research, application and creation" five-in-one training and innovation system, and reserve talents for the sustainable and healthy development of my country's 5G.

Fifth, governments at all levels are paying close attention to the tremendous changes that 5G technology will bring to urban development, industrial transformation, and people's lives. It is recommended that governments at all levels actively organize relevant departments to widely publicize and popularize 5G, help 5G drive China on the path of high-quality development, and help 5G realize people's yearning for a better digital life.

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has further deepened our understanding of the industrial Internet. We recommend accelerating the construction of 5G+Industrial Internet, improving the "5G+Industrial Internet" integration standard system, improving the "5G+Industrial Internet" security protection capabilities, and focusing on cultivating and strengthening the "5G+Industrial Internet" industrial ecosystem.

"At present, governments at all levels, industrial enterprises, medical institutions, schools and other institutions are actively promoting the implementation of applications under the guarantee of 5G networks, promoting and building an ecological industrial chain based on 5G, promoting the research and development and industrialization of 5G technologies, and further promoting the further maturity and upgrading of industrial chains such as information systems, electronic components, chips, and smart terminals." Wang Chunhui said.