11/08/2020
The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit China for half a year has not slowed down the country’s progress in the construction of 5G networks. On 25 July 2020, during the “2020 China Internet Conference – 5G Ecological Forum”, Wen Ku, Director of MIIT’s Information and Communications Development Department, revealed that more than 360,000 5G base stations had been established in China by the end of June 2020, with the number of 5G users exceeding 100 million.
Nonetheless, although progressing rapidly, 5G is also facing various issues and challenges. These include, for instance, the lack of in-depth research on the integrated application of 5G in vertical industries, the lack of exploration of new business models, and the lack of core technology capacities. To address these problems, Wen Ku outlined three suggestions at the conference:
- Creation of an open 5G ecosystem
In order to ensure the provision of internet services that are convenient, flexible, reliable and secure, and to promote the mutual development of networks and applications, it is vital to support basic telecommunication operators and improve 5G networks. Therefore, exchange and cooperation should be deepened among basic telecommunication operators, network equipment manufacturers, terminal manufacturers, system integrators and various vertical application industries, which can enable industry leaders and SMEs to complement each other and achieve synergistic development. Furthermore, China will continue to support the participation of international enterprises in its 5G development and application process, thus sharing its 5G achievements with the world and deepening openness and cooperation, ultimately leading to win-win benefits.
- Establishment of an innovative 5G ecosystem
China should continue its efforts to build a policy environment supporting and stimulating innovation, and raise its capabilities for original innovation, with a particular focus on the forefront of 5G industrial development. This can be fostered through strengthened R&D and innovation of leading, critical and basic core technologies. At the same time, in order to meet the demand of 5G integrated application, China should also facilitate and promote the innovation of technology applications, such as the integration of 5G with AI and big data technologies.
- Ensuring a healthy 5G ecosystem
On the one hand, China should ramp up its efforts in the research of 5G safety technologies and standards, with the aim to achieve breakthroughs especially on the safety side. It should also welcome international organisations such as ITU and 3GPP to play a positive role in (i) establishing an evaluation and certification system that earns global recognition and trust, and in (ii) launching unified safety certification standards. In this way, challenges in 5G safety technologies can be addressed organically.
On the other hand, China should participate actively and thoroughly in the global 5G industrial chain, thus shaping a healthy ecosystem that features constructive interactions, collaborative research, openness and mutual benefits.
These suggestions indicate that the Chinese government retains an open attitude towards 5G industrial development, and that it values positively international platforms such as ITU and 3GPP.
In addition to Wen Ku’s keynote presentation, during the conference two white papers relating to the 5G industry were published:
- The White Paper on 5G Communications Development in 2020, published by the China Institute of Communications (CIC) and Tencent: it analyses the distribution of 5G users across China, and points out that, among various 5G applications, users focus more on new cultural and creative industries (games, video, etc.), and industrial Internet (the Internet of Vehicles, telemedicine, etc.).
- The White Paper on the Network Architecture of 5G Industry Virtual Private Network, published by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) on behalf of the 5G Applications Industry Array (5GAIA) and the Alliance of Industrial Internet (AII): it introduces the background and information of 5G industry VPN, as well as some practices and efforts by enterprises to explore VPN architecture.
Origional resource: