5G is getting mainstream this year, and while countries like South Korea and the USA have already begun 5G operations, China looks set to join the list as it has already started the issuance of 5G licenses.
A few hours ago, reports surfaced saying that commercial 5G license will be issued somewhere around October. However, since China has started issuing licenses today, the rollout of 5G should commence sooner than expected.
This also means that development in China is moving with more speed than anticipated. According to an insider of this development, “China is now issuing 5G licenses, indicating that China’s 5G industry is ready. China has the ability to let the world see what the world’s leading 5G network is!”
The Deputy General Manager of ZTE‘s 5G industrial product line, Michael Gao Wenhao was at the Hong Kong 5G Forum of the Hong Kong Productivity Council headquarters last month, and at the event, he said that China has plans to begin the commercialization of 5G technology nationwide from October 1st.
Reports also say that the base stations for the 5G rollout in Mainland China will likely be provided by three companies- Huawei, ZTE, and Ericsson. If everything goes according to plan, China will be among the first countries to offer commercialized 5G.
On the said date when China will commercialize 5G, three major telecom operators in China, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom will 30,000 to 50,000 base stations in around 40 cities in China for the 5G services. Deploying 5G is 40 cities is no small task, and compared to the USA and South Korea, China will have broader 5G coverage.
Back in April this year, the first 5G network in China went live in the Qianhai-Shekou Free Trade Zone which is located in the country’s southern tech hub Shenzhen. China Unicom then joined hands with FTZ (Free Trade Zone) to build 111 5G base stations.
China Unicom has performed 5G tests in Taijin, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Shenyang, Beijing, Qingdao, Nanjing, Chengdu, and Zhenzhou. Meanwhile, China Mobile has plans to bring 5G network in multiple cities. It also wants to build around 10,000 5G base stations by the year 2020.
