Indoor 5G deployment also a priority in Shanghai
Chinese carriers have already deployed over 20,000 5G base stations in Shanghai, Chinese press reported, citing Wu Jincheng, director of Shanghai Commission of Economy.
“By the end of May, we have built more than 20,000 base stations, which means, basically, the downtown area in Shanghai has realized full coverage of 5G network,” Wu said.
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.
The official said that China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom are currently carrying out trials and pilots of different 5G projects.
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.
China’s capital Beijing has already deployed almost 22,000 5G base stations. The number of 5G users in the city has exceeded 3.1 million since Beijing officially kicked off commercial 5G services in 2019, according to the Beijing Municipal Communications Administration.
Beijing’s municipal government had previously predicted that the number of 5G base stations in the city would exceed 30,000 by the end of this year, and 5G indoor coverage equipment would be installed in 5,000 buildings across the city.
Chinese mobile operators are expected to deploy over 600,000 5G base stations by the end of the year, covering cities above the prefecture level in the country, according to recent Chinese press reports.
The country’s three mobile carriers have already built more than 250,000 5G base stations across China, said Lu Chuncong, deputy director of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
In June 2019, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially issued licenses for the launch of commercial 5G networks in the country. Those 5G permits were granted to China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and state-owned broadcaster China Broadcasting Network.
It is forecasted that 28% of China’s mobile connections will be running on 5G networks by 2025, accounting for about one-third of all 5G connections globally, according to a previous report by the GSMA.
