The construction of 5G base stations is advancing rapidly, and terminal applications are more abundant

The transcript of the first anniversary of the commercial

　　Our reporter Wang Zheng

　　"People's Daily" (November 02, 2020 10th Edition)

　　The number of 5G base stations exceeded 690,000, and the number of terminal connections exceeded 160 million...On October 31, a year ago, with the launch of 5G packages by the three major operators as a sign, my country's 5G was officially commercialized.

In one year, my country's information and communication industry has handed in a brilliant 5G answer sheet.

　　High speed and low latency, but lack of super applications for individual users

　　"Watching HD live broadcasts of sports events with your mobile phone is finally not afraid of lag." Two weeks ago, Mr. Shen, who works for an Internet company in Shanghai, opened the 5G package of Shanghai Telecom.

During the year of commercial use of 5G, he has been hearing all kinds of talks about 5G coverage and applications from people around him. However, when he really uses 5G, his feelings are "exceeding expectations."

"WeChat sends videos in seconds, and Internet calls no longer have a delay, and uploading large-capacity emails as a laptop WiFi hotspot is amazingly fast!"

　　Song Xiaoming, who is engaged in new media operations in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, started using 5G at the beginning of the year. "Not long ago, we used 5G for live streaming. High-definition and smooth images cannot be achieved with 4G."

　　Ms. Liu, who is engaged in cloud desktop development in Beijing, does not have much demand for network speed. She tried China Mobile's 5G package at the end of last year and felt that the tariff was acceptable.

"The 158 yuan package includes 300 minutes of talk, 40G data, and free home broadband binding."

　　Speaking of expectations for 5G, the interviewed consumers unanimously stated that the outdoor coverage in core areas of major cities is not bad, and outdoor coverage in non-core areas and indoor coverage in buildings needs to be strengthened.

In addition, many 5G users call for the launch of iconic super applications as soon as possible.

　　Song Xiaoming said that he has some friends who are doing 5G application development, and they have launched many applications such as 5G + smart agriculture and 5G + smart medical care, which are very popular with industry users.

"What is missing is super apps for individual users."

　　"5G super applications for ordinary consumers are definitely inseparable from the characteristics of 5G's high speed, low latency, and wide connection." Zhang Chuang, director of the Information Center of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, is China Unicom's first batch of 5G users.

For example, he said that watching a live event on a 5G mobile phone can not only choose to switch screens with multiple cameras, but also can drag and drop 360 degrees on the screen for the wonderful moments.

"If this kind of application can be used in major sports events, it will definitely catch on."

　　Deeply tap the sharing potential and rapid deployment of 5G infrastructure

　　Pile cranes roar, vehicles shuttle... At 4 pm on October 30, the construction site of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, where the main terminal building has been capped, was busy.

In a hall on the first floor connecting a boarding gallery bridge to the T2 terminal, the construction personnel of the China Tower Chengdu branch communication coverage project are connecting the equipment components of the 5G room (indoor distribution) on the ceiling weak current bridge that has been wired .

　　"As of now, 80% of the cable wiring work for the airport 5G coverage project has been completed, and the overall project is 40% completed. By January 30 next year, all the network coverage projects of the two terminal buildings will be completed." China Tower According to Hu Yi, manager of the civil communication project department of Tianfu Airport, Chengdu Branch of the Co., Ltd., the Tower Company coordinates the needs of operators, makes full use of resources such as runway pole lights, bridges, and floor surfaces, and plans to build 29 outdoor macro base stations and more than 300 Various types of micro base stations and thousands of indoor sub-coverage points realize cost-effective 5G comprehensive coverage.

　　The 5G coverage project of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport is just a microcosm of the acceleration of my country's 5G network construction in the past year.

According to Tong Jilu, chairman of China Tower Co., Ltd., 5G site density is high, power consumption is high, and construction and operation costs are huge.

China Tower will coordinate the needs of the three major telecom operators to build stations, tap the sharing potential, and help the rapid and large-scale deployment of 5G infrastructure.

This year, we have made every effort to overcome the impact of the epidemic. As of the end of September, 345,000 5G base stations have been completed.

　　"As of the end of September, my country has accumulated more than 690,000 5G base stations, and the cumulative number of 5G terminal connections has exceeded 160 million," said Wen Ku, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Director of the Information and Communication Development Department.

　　While the construction of base stations is advancing rapidly, 5G terminals have become more abundant and prices have dropped significantly.

Up to now, 207 5G terminals have been licensed for network access. Among them, there are 180 5G mobile phones from 34 brands, many of which are priced below 2,000 yuan. In the past two months, 5G mobile phones accounted for nearly 80%.

　　Accelerate industrial transformation, with application scenarios covering many industries

　　The manufacturing execution system issues instructions, the fabrics are "queued" one by one in the flow workshop, and the tailored fabrics immediately enter the sewing process. The sewn tops and trousers are accurately matched, and the "transformation" from cutting to ready-to-wear is completed in an orderly manner...

　　Walking into the production workshop of Ningbo Youngor Digital Factory in Zhejiang, the cut fabric becomes a set of ready-to-sale garments, and the whole process is completed on the hanging system to achieve "foot-free".

All this is due to the 5G+ fully connected factory digital transformation program provided by China Unicom's Industrial Internet Innovation Team.

"With the help of 5G edge computing technology, not only can real-time monitoring of production factors and automatic data collection, but also provide comprehensive data support for the manufacturing execution system." The relevant person in charge of China Unicom said.

　　Boosting the implementation of smart factories is just one of many cases where 5G accelerates industrial transformation and upgrading and generates new industry momentum.

In the field of equipment manufacturing, China Telecom assisted Sany Heavy Industries in its digital transformation, creating a series of application scenarios such as 5G+ equipment data collection and analysis, 5G+ machine vision, etc., which greatly improved production efficiency and achieved cost reduction and efficiency enhancement.

　　Autonomous driving, industrial Internet, smart transportation, smart healthcare, smart education...The three major operators are accelerating the deep integration of 5G with traditional industries such as industry, transportation, medical care, education, and energy.

China Unicom has joined hands with partners to establish the "China Unicom 5G Application Innovation Alliance". It has created typical 5G application scenarios in the above-mentioned key areas and vertical industries, completed more than 200 projects, and achieved commercial transformation of more than 100 projects.

　　The results of the first anniversary of 5G commercial use are obvious, but operators, all parties in the industry chain, or users are all facing problems such as low technology maturity, large scale of network construction investment, high operating expenses, insufficient core applications, and difficulty in cost recovery.

Wu Hequan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out that the maturity of 5G technology is in line with the law of mobile communications development. Looking at the entire construction cycle, the return on 5G investment is also comparable to that of 4G. The common problems in the initial commercialization of the above-mentioned new technologies need to be solved through continuous innovation in development.

　　"The next step is to cooperate with the deployment of 5G SA (independent networking), carry out network slicing, industry virtual private network and other technological model innovations, and improve network coverage." Wenku said, while continuing to focus on 5G application innovation, deep mining Vertical industry needs continue to enrich application scenarios and build a wide range of application ecology.