On March 6, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a special meeting on accelerating 5G development to listen to the progress of 5G work, existing difficulties and suggestions of basic telecommunications companies, study and deploy to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks, and serve epidemic prevention and control. Economic and social development work.

Chen Zhaoxiong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, attended the above-mentioned meeting. Ke Ruiwen, Chairman of China Telecom, Yang Jie, Chairman of China Mobile, Wang Xiaochu, Chairman of China Unicom, Tong Jilu, Chairman of China Tower, and Song Qizhu, Chairman of China Radio and Television attended the meeting.

According to the speeches of the leaders of the three major operators, the surging journalists sorted out the key words of this year’s 5G construction.

Construction goal: Unicom Telecom will build 300,000 base stations this year, which is comparable to that of China Mobile

Ke Ruiwen, Secretary of the Party Group and Chairman of China Telecom, said at the meeting: At the end of September, China Unicom will jointly complete the construction of 250,000 5G base stations, and strive to complete the construction of 300,000 5G base stations by the end of the year.

Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile, did not emphasize the overall goal of 5G base stations for the year at the meeting. However, he revealed at the meeting that as of the end of February, China Mobile had built and opened more than 80,000 5G base stations, including 286 5G base stations in key areas for epidemic prevention and control.

On the day of this meeting, China Mobile launched the centralized procurement of the main equipment for the second phase of the 5G wireless network, covering 28 provinces (cities and districts) across the country, with a total procurement scale of more than 230,000 5G base stations.

Then, the number of 5G base stations in the first and second phases of China Mobile’s 5G is 310,000. This is consistent with China Mobile’s previous statement that the number of 5G base stations will reach 300,000 in 2020, and that all cities above the prefecture-level nationwide will cover 5G networks.

On March 10, China Telecom and China Unicom started the centralized prequalification of 5G independent networking (SA) wireless master equipment. The announcement on China Unicom’s bidding website shows that there are about 250,000 SA (independent networking) wireless master equipment required for the 5G construction of China Telecom and China Unicom’s related local networks.

This also means that in the 5G era, the scale of 5G network base stations jointly built by China Telecom and China Unicom is comparable to that of China Mobile.

Co-construction and sharing: Telecom Unicom saves about 10 billion yuan in investment costs, and resolutely does not fight price wars

Wang Xiaochu, chairman of China Unicom, disclosed at the meeting that as of March 5, China Unicom had opened about 66,000 stations in total, including 43,000 stations built by itself and 23,000 stations of shared telecom, and a total of 50,000 stations of jointly built and shared base stations. The goal of grid connection in the first stage has been basically completed. Up to now, it is estimated that the two parties have saved a total investment cost of about 10 billion yuan.

He said that in terms of 5G network construction, the main focus is on 5G collaboration, co-construction and sharing. China Unicom gives full play to the leading role of technology, and cooperates with Telecom to actively promote the R&D, co-construction and sharing of large-bandwidth, large-capacity and high-performance base station equipment, and promote the development of the industrial chain.

Ke Ruiwen also talked about 5G co-construction and sharing in his speech. He said that China Telecom is resolute in co-construction and sharing with China Unicom, and the joint working groups of the two sides have been working together, and a total of 74,000 5G base stations have been opened. In the next step, China Telecom will unswervingly promote the joint construction and sharing of the two sides, and jointly negotiate and solve various complex issues such as technology.

Regarding the coordinated development of 5G, Ke Ruiwen said that China Telecom is determined not to fight price wars, and hopes that the entire industry will jointly promote joint construction and sharing, jointly maintain the industry ecology, and jointly prosper the 5G industry.

5G application: rich application scenarios in the anti-epidemic battlefield

5G application scenarios still need to be expanded.

Wang Xiaochu said that in terms of accelerating the development of 5G, the focus is on enriching application scenarios and stimulating consumption. On the 2C side, actively promote the migration of 4G users to 5G through applications and terminals; on the 2B side, focus on “5G + industrial Internet, new media, smart transportation, smart medical care, smart education” and other fields, and accelerate the improvement of “5G + Internet of Things + big data”. +AI” integrated application capabilities.

Ke Ruiwen said that 5G has played an important role in the prevention and control of the epidemic. In more than a month, China Telecom has built more than 500 5G base stations in Wuhan to fully support the prevention and control of the epidemic. The construction process of Shanshan Hospital has boosted the company’s confidence in 5G development. In the next step, China Telecom will continue to practice new development concepts, accelerate the construction of 5G networks, increase investment in 5G innovation and research and development, actively promote the digitization of 5G-enabled industries, provide leading and differentiated 5G applications and services, and work with the industry to promote 5G Prosperity.

Yang Jie said that China Mobile is actively deploying 5G into the industry. Led the establishment of a 5G joint innovation center, an industrial digital alliance, etc., focusing on 14 key vertical industries, and has created 51 5G demonstration application scenarios. During the epidemic, 5G remote diagnosis and treatment, medical robots, infrared temperature telemetry and other information applications were launched.

In addition, accelerate the promotion of 5G to serve the public. Innovate the marketing service model, enrich the online product contact system, promote ultra-high-definition live broadcast, cloud games, video CRBT and other special services, and provide “one-stop” services for 5G terminals, packages, and applications.

Business model: not yet clear, to create a demonstration application

The business model of 5G also needs to be further clarified.

Wang Xiaochu also said that it is necessary to further explore the 5G business model and reduce the operating risks caused by huge investment. 5G investment and operating costs are significantly higher than 4G. As the current equipment maturity is not yet high, a large amount of equipment optimization and replacement costs will need to be borne in the future after large-scale deployment; on the other hand, the 5G profit model is not yet clear, and there is no strong “killer” application on the 2C side. Although some solutions have been implemented, the scale promotion and business model are not yet clear.

Yang Jie also said that it is necessary to expand new formats and models of information consumption. Research and sort out the new needs brought about by epidemic prevention and control and resumption of work and production, promote the integration and innovation of 5G, AI, and blockchain, and strive to create more high-quality, valuable, and replicable demonstration applications. Strengthen cross-industry and cross-field technology research and development and achievement transformation, continuously enrich and improve information solutions such as “5G + Industrial Internet”, smart factories, and smart medical care, and promote the digital, networked, and intelligent transformation of traditional industries. Promote 5G service upgrade, cloud-based empowerment, and ecological cooperation, launch more colorful business experiences, actively expand effective demand, and fully unleash the potential of new information consumption.

As for the business model, Yang Jie said that it is necessary to adhere to both scale development and value management, and to provide differentiated 5G network services such as rate, delay, and connection according to different attributes such as business, scenarios, and customers.