Chinese operators will build 800,000 5G base stations and have more than 200 million 5G subscribers by the end of 2020, Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei’s Wireless Network Solutions unit, said during an industry conference on Thursday.
The executive said that 5G subscribers in China would represent 70% of the global subscriber base by end-2020.
China now has 400,000 5G base stations and 100 million 5G users, said Yang.
“Chinese operators are also actively promoting cross-industry collaboration. By fusing 5G with AI, cloud, and computing, they have launched multiple innovative services, including AR/VR and cloud gaming. Leveraging in-depth integration with vertical industries, including port, mining, and steel manufacturing, they have been actively exploring digital transformation to create value beyond connectivity for enterprises,”the executive said.
During the “5G for Good Summit”, Zhang Jianming, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, announced the establishment of a 5G open lab in Shanghai.
The official noted that this initiative will accelerate the aggregation of 5G industries and help Shanghai foster a collaborative innovation ecosystem. The innovation center will provide application incubation, function testing, scenario verification, and investment conversion, with the aim of building a 5G ecosystem open platform.
Chinese carriers have already deployed over 20,000 5G base stations in Shanghai. According to previous reports, Shanghai expected to have 30,000 outdoor 5G base stations and 50,000 indoor small stations by the end of 2020.
Shanghai expects to invest CNY 10 billion ($1.43 billion) in 5G during 2020, aiming to cover the city with an average download speed of 200 mbps. In places such as exhibition centers and airports, the 5G download speed will reach 500 mbps, the official added.
Commercial areas, such as Nanjing Road E., Xujiahui and Lujiazui, will be more densely covered by 5G network, with download speeds exceeding 500 mbps.
In May, Shanghai’s metro operator signed a strategic agreement with China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Tower to deploy a 5G network that will cover the city’s all 297 metro stations this year.
