Shangdong is using 5G for applications in the media, transport and education sectors
Chinese operators have already deployed 100,000 5G base stations in Shandong Province, covering the urban areas of all its county-level areas, local news agency Xinhua reported.
Shandong is China’s second largest Province in terms of population.
According to the report, Shandong has invested CNY8.37 billion ($1.3 billion) this year to construct 5G infrastructure and implement 5G applications. Also, the number of 5G subscribers in the province has reached more than 29 million.
By the end of 2025, Shandong is expected to have more than 250,000 5G base stations, expanding the 5G services to all its villages, according to the report.
The province has accelerated the use of 5G technology in industries including media, industrial internet, transport, education, healthcare and tourism over the recent years.
Earlier this month, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) unveiled plans to more than triple the number of 5G base stations in China over the next four years, targeting a total of 3.64 million by end-2025.
Under this plan, China aims to have 26 5G base stations for every 10,000 people by the end of 2025. In comparison, in 2020, there were five 5G base stations for every 10,000 people in China.
The plan also stipulates that the penetration rate of 5G users in the country will grow from 15% in 2020 to 56% in 2021.
Xie Cun, director of the information and communication development department at the ministry, had said that Chinese operators have already deployed more than 1.15 million 5G base stations, accounting for more than 70% of the global total, and 5G network coverage has been achieved in urban areas of all prefecture-level cities. The official also said that 5G coverage reached 97% of counties and 40% of rural towns across the country.
Chinese operators recorded a net gain of 43.81 million 5G subscribers in October, according to the carriers’ latest available figures.
China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, added a total of 24.3 million 5G subscribers last month. The telco said it ended last month with 355.52 million 5G subscribers, compared to 128.79 million 5G customers in October 2020.
Rival operator China Unicom said it added a total of 6.56 million 5G subscribers during last month. China Unicom ended October with 136.94 million 5G subscribers. Since the beginning of the year, the carrier added a total of 72.68 million customers in the 5G segment.
Meanwhile, China Telecom added 12.95 million 5G subscribers in October to take its total 5G subscribers base to 168.49 million. During the January-October period, the telco added a total of 81.99 million 5G subscribers.
