Despite living at an average altitude of 5,373 meters, residents of Pumakantan Town in Nagarze County, Shannan City, Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China, can access live sports streaming on their mobile phones.
With the help of 5G technology, a surgeon in Beijing can now control a robotic arm from southern China’s Hainan province, some 3,000 kilometers away, and perform difficult surgeries on patients with near-zero network latency. .
An automated guided vehicle transports battery packs at the workshop of a new energy company in Yibin City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. (People’s Daily Online/Lanfeng)
These scenarios would not have been possible without China’s efforts to promote 5G technology. As of the end of 2023, China has built more than 3.37 million 5G base stations, and the number of 5G mobile phone users has reached 805 million. China has the world’s largest fiber optic and mobile broadband network, covering all prefecture-level cities and counties.
The application of 5G technology has permeated all industries and is having a major impact on people’s work and lives.
According to an official from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), more than 90% of existing 5G base stations across China are jointly constructed and shared by carriers, and can provide gigabit network services with 23.02 million ports. .
The official said China has launched a pilot program for universal telecommunications services in seven stages, supporting the construction of fiber optic networks in 130,000 administrative villages and building 60,000 4G base stations in rural areas. He said he supported the As a result, the country’s vast countryside can now enjoy high-speed and stable network services.
Network infrastructure is being increasingly developed, and new advances are continually being achieved in key 5G technologies. In recent years, China’s 5G technology field has consistently strengthened its innovation capabilities in technical standards, network equipment, terminal equipment and other fields.
China owns more than 42% of standard-essential patents for 5G technology and remains at the top of the global ranking. Mobile IoT (Internet of Things) terminal users account for 57.5% of the total number of mobile network terminal connections, laying a solid foundation for universal interconnectivity.
Two 5G-enabled self-piloted tour buses are being operated on a trial basis in Wujiang District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, eastern China. (People’s Daily Online/Wang Jianzhong)
Lightweight 5G core networks and customized base stations have enabled commercial deployment. It has successfully developed a series of new terminals, including 5G industrial gateways and inspection robots.
China launched the world’s first smartphone with satellite communication, further strengthening its innovation capabilities in areas such as 6G, quantum communication, and artificial intelligence.
At the general workshop of Chinese electric car manufacturer GAC Aion’s smart factory, an intelligent carrier carrying car bodies slides into a workstation. Then his two 7-axis robots on either side of the workstation started moving. Tasks that previously required multiple operators to complete are now completed automatically in just 53 seconds. More importantly, key parameters were simultaneously uploaded to the intelligent production system, allowing traceability throughout the product lifecycle.
This intelligent connected vehicle truly reflects the rapid integrated development of 5G and industrial internet in China.
“Benefiting from 5G-powered industrial internet, we not only achieved a first-pass yield of 98.5 percent and maximum capacity utilization of 160 percent, but also achieved We offer users more than 100,000 personalized configuration combinations, such as interiors,” said Gu Huinan, general manager of GAC Aion.
Late last year, GAC Aion’s smart factory stood out among many new energy vehicle factories around the world and was listed as a lighthouse factory by the World Economic Forum, Gu added.
Engineers from China Telecom’s Zhangye branch are testing a 5G base station in Kangning Village, Ganzhou District, Zhangye City, Gansu Province, northwest China. (People’s Daily Online/Yang Yongwei)
In recent years, 5G-powered industrial Internet has expanded its application scenario from production to the entire industrial chain, effectively promoting the transformation of manufacturing industry towards high-end, intelligent and green development.
The continuous development of digital technologies is behind the increasingly diverse application scenarios. Currently, 5G applications have been integrated into 71 out of 97 categories in the national economy, with more than 94,000 application cases and more than 29,000 5G industry virtual private networks. 5G applications are widely promoted in industries such as manufacturing, mining, power, ports, and healthcare. More than 10,000 5G-powered industrial internet projects have been launched.
“The number of 5G mobile phone users continues to increase, and the consumption of 5G data is rapidly increasing, which promotes the flourishing development of emerging businesses such as naked-eye 3D and cloud phones, and the development of mobile communications. The space is effectively expanding in the “market”,” an MIIT official said.
The integration of 5G and gigabit optical networks is continuously expanding, pushing China’s digital economy to a new level of development. By the end of 2023, the penetration rate of 5G network access traffic accounted for 47 percent. According to the research institute’s estimates, 5G is expected to generate 1.86 trillion yuan ($257.31 billion) of economic output in 2023, an increase of 29% compared to 2022.
MIIT officials said, “Information technology is deeply embedded in various industries, restructuring industrial structures and accelerating the upgrading of business models. It is an important driving force for the development of new high-quality productivity. “It’s happening,” he said.
(Web editor: Changsha, Liangjun)