China telecommunications infrastructure firm China Tower has deployed over 100 5G base stations in 17 competition venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as well as along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway and the Beijing-Chongli expressway, Chinese press reported.
According to the report, China Tower is coordinating with China’s three major telecom operators to conduct infrastructure construction for 5G coverage among the competition venues and along the major transportation routes.
“We started the building of 5G base stations two years ago, and now we have completed the infrastructure construction of mobile communication network for the Winter Olympics,” said Cheng Jiwei, deputy general manager of the Beijing subsidiary of China Tower. The executive said the construction of 5G base stations included 31 in the Beijing and Yanqing competition zones and three sets of 5G indoor distribution system in the National Alpine Ski Center, the National Sliding Center, and the Yanqing Olympic Village.
Cheng also noted that Beijing will achieve full 5G coverage on the high-speed railway to its co-host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics. According to Cheng, there are 49 5G base stations built along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway and 32 along the Beijing-Chongli expressway, guaranteeing 5G coverage for athletes and visitors during their trips between venues.
Additionally, the Beijing subsidiary of China Tower has ensured full 5G coverage in the auditoriums of the venues, according to the report.
The 2022 Winter Olympics Games are scheduled to take place in early to mid-February 2022, in Beijing and towns in the neighboring Hebei province.
China Tower was formed in 2014, when the country’s mobile carrier China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom transferred their telecom towers to the new company. The three telcos decided to create the new entity in a move to reduce redundant construction of telecommunications infrastructure across the country. China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom currently own a 38%, 28.1% and 27.9% stake respectively. State-owned asset manager China Reform Holding owns the remaining 6%.
At the end of last year, China Telecom reported 2.02 million tower sites under management, up 29,000 for the year, with an additional 12,000 tenants at 3.175 million.
China ended the first quarter of the year with a total of 819,000 5G base stations, up from 771,000 5G sites at the end of 2020, according to a report published by Chinese paper Global Times.
For the full-year 2021, Chinese operators aim to install over 600,000 5G base stations, according to the report.
Earlier this year, Liu Liehong, vice minister of industry and information technology, had said that 5G standalone networks covered all prefecture-level cities across China.
