Shanghai aims to reach 77,000 5G base stations by the end of next year
China’s main financial hub Shanghai has already deployed over 68,000 5G base stations so far, with all its 16 administrative regions covered by the 5G network.
By the end of October, the Shanghai branches of China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom had approximately 12 million 5G mobile phone users, accounting for 27% of the Shanghai total mobile phone users, and up 51.4% year on year, according to the Shanghai Communications Administration.
Data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also revealed that Shanghai recorded 26.6 5G base stations per 10,000 residents as of the end of September, ranking second nationwide.
According to the report, the Shanghai’s airports, train stations and subway routes have achieved full coverage of 5G signals.
Shanghai is expected to have more than 77,000 5G base stations by the end of 2023, according to an action plan released by the Shanghai Communications Administration. This number of base stations will ensure that 90% of the city has 5G network coverage,
The plan also stated that more than 4,000 major commercial buildings and key public institutions in Shanghai will have indoor 5G coverage and 70% of the city’s population should be 5G users by that time.
Meanwhile, China’s capital Beijing had a total of 63,000 5G base stations as of the end of July, up 11,000 from the end of last year, according to previous press reports.
According to Sun Lixin, an official from the city’s communications administration, Beijing had 28.9 5G base stations per 10,000 people as of the end of July.
The official also noted that 5G services were available in 68% of Beijing’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Ring roads and also in 84% of 145 key public areas including hospitals, railway stations and subway stations.
Sun also highlighted that China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom provided fixed broadband services to 8.56 million subscribers in Beijing by the end of July. The number of gigabit-broadband users amounted to over 1 million, accounting for 12.3% of all broadband users in the city.
China had more than 2.2 million 5G base stations by the end of September, accounting for more than 60% of 5G base stations worldwide, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Chinese operators recorded a net gain of 24.75 million 5G subscribers in October, according to the operators’ latest available statistics.
China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, added a total of 14.7 million 5G subscribers during October. The carrier said it ended last month with 571.5 million 5G subscribers. Since the beginning of the year, China Mobile has added a total of 184.7 million subscribers in the 5G segment.
Meanwhile, China Telecom added 5.88 million 5G subscribers last month to take its total 5G subscribers base to 256.9 million. Since the beginning of the year, the telco has added a total of 69.12 million 5G subscribers.
Rival operator China Unicom said it added a total of 4.17 million 5G subscribers during last month. The carrier ended October with 205 million 5G subscribers.
