The large-scale deployment of 5G-A is accelerating! The low-altitude economy and smart parks are ushering in a golden development period.

On May 14, the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" reported (Journalist Huang Xinyi) that currently, the large-scale deployment of 5G-A mobile communication is accelerating nationwide. The three major telecom operators have launched test network construction in 31 provinces across the country, expecting to support 50 million users. Compared to 5G, the most intuitive experience of 5G-A is its "speed"; the maximum data download rate will increase from gigabit in the early stages of 5G to 10 gigabits, with latency optimized from milliseconds to sub-milliseconds, and connection density expanded from tens of billions to hundreds of billions, capable of supporting more complex application scenario needs.

The "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" visited cities such as Qingdao in Shandong and Xiamen in Fujian, and found that many core areas of these cities have completed the deployment of 5G-A. In terms of B-end applications, AI parks, smart factories, low-altitude economy, and smart ports have become the first landing scenarios. For C-end consumer scenarios, operators focus on differentiated experiences in business travel, live streaming, gaming, and more.

▍B-end applications: 10G AI parks, smart factories, low-altitude economy, etc. are key directions.

On May 12, Shandong's 5G-A typical application scenarios were officially released, and the pilot construction of a 10 Gigabit AI park was launched. According to Meng Qiang, a member of the party group and deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Communications Administration, Shandong is the first in the country to include 5G-A and 5G lightweight (RedCap) construction in the provincial special reward and subsidy policy. So far, a total of 254,000 5G base stations have been opened, the 5G network access rate in administrative villages has reached 99%, and the number of 5G-A base stations (multi-carrier aggregation and synaesthesia integration) has exceeded 13,000. This year, 275 new "5G + Industrial Internet" integrated application projects have been created, with a total of more than 2,000, covering manufacturing, energy, textile, chemical and other key industrial fields.

Meng Qiang pointed out that this year, as the concluding year of the "14th Five-Year Plan", Shandong will organize the entire industry to solidify the "dual-gigabit" network foundation and accelerate the "dual-10G" network pilot. The implementation of the 5G-A "Million Project" construction will pilot the deployment of 5G-A integrated sensing networks, explore innovative applications of low-altitude computing power integration, and jointly carry out low-altitude economy pilot projects with relevant departments, creating more than 30 cases of 5G-A integrated applications in the low-altitude industry.

According to the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily," Shandong has initiated the pilot construction of the "10 Gigabit + Artificial Intelligence (AI)" park. The project aims to establish a number of innovative and replicable typical application cases of 10 Gigabit AI parks through measures such as the construction of 10 Gigabit networks, intensive edge computing power deployment, incubation of "10 Gigabit + AI" business applications in the park, pilot testing of new network technologies, exploration of integrated light storage and charging technology applications, and strengthening the cybersecurity assurance of the park.

In addition, the typical application scenarios of 5G-A released by Shandong involve fields such as smart manufacturing, smart ports, smart grids, and low-altitude economy. For example, intelligent factories based on edge computing, ultra-low latency remote control of gantry cranes, intelligent power supply systems and agricultural management based on RedCap, and the application of three carriers in smart cultural tourism, among others.

At Sailun Group's 5G smart factory, reporters learned that through the integration of 5G and high-performance tire manufacturing, six application scenarios have been重点搭建，包括：基于5G+AI图像病疵识别应用、5G+NB-IoT实现能源管理、基于5G+AR技术的轮胎设备数据透视、5G助力边缘计算+AI大数据平台实现工艺智能优化、基于5G+AR鹰眼视频智能合规性防控及实景物流追踪系统、5G助力智能数字孪生体建设.

According to the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", Fujian is also exploring the application of related vertical scenarios. In the Huangcuo sea area, Fujian Mobile has deployed a 5G-A integrated sensing network, successfully completing a 20-kilometer near-shore ship 5G-A sensing connection, achieving applications such as long-distance ship monitoring, tracking and positioning, speed identification, and electronic fencing. It has also formed a connected sensing area design that includes 20 stations, serving low-altitude economic activities such as security assurance and traffic management. In addition, Fujian Mobile has opened 2,380 RedCap 700M stations, supporting projects such as the State Grid Fujian Electric Power and Xiamen Times 5G Smart Factory.

▍C-end consumption: business travel, live streaming, gaming, etc. to explore differentiated demands.

In consumer scenarios, operators mainly focus on groups such as business travelers, live streaming, gaming, and technology enthusiasts, providing differentiated scene experience packages.

For example, the 5G-A commercial package from Shanghai Mobile is mainly aimed at three scenarios: high-end business travel, live streaming influencers, and gaming enthusiasts. The high-end business travel package is tailored for frequent business travelers and includes the AI transcription 100-minute package of the new 5G calling as well as the 8C16G version of the cloud computer service. The live streaming influencer package is designed for professionals in the live streaming industry, offering features such as call subtitles and fun calling among other new 5G calling functionalities. The gaming enthusiast package targets gaming lovers, with the 5G-A gaming package providing network support of up to 2Gbps download speed and 150Mbps upload speed, including a professional version of cloud phone service and a 9.9 yuan version of the MiGu Fast Play membership.

Beijing, Shenzhen and other places have also launched package products tailored for business, live broadcasting, gaming and other scenarios. For example, Beijing Mobile has introduced venue packages, business travel packages, gaming packages, and live broadcasting packages. Among them, the venue package can ensure a network speed of 4Gbps downlink and 2Mbps uplink during large-scale events at sports venues.

For the general consumer, there are two prerequisites to use the 5G-A network: first, the user's mobile device must support 5G-A and have the relevant data package activated; second, the local base station must support 5G-A. To improve user experience, operators in various regions are increasing their coverage of the 5G-A network.

According to Shandong Mobile, 151 5G-A sites have been planned to be opened in the coastal area of Qingdao, covering attractions such as Badaguan, May Fourth Square, Olympic Sailing Center, Xiaomai Island, and Shilaoren Beach.

In Fujian, Xiamen has taken on the construction task of the first comprehensive 5G-A demonstration city in the province. China Mobile has completed a three-dimensional 5G-A network coverage in Xiamen, including terrestrial, marine, and low-altitude coverage, covering low-altitude communication within the island, core protection areas for white dolphins, as well as large-scale coverage along Zhongshan Road, Ring Road, Wuyuan Bay, the airport, the municipal government, and commercial areas.

According to relevant staff from Xiamen Mobile, the areas including Xiamen Airport, High-speed Railway Station, Zhongshan Road, Gulangyu, and Huandao Road have fully covered the 5G-A network, covering scenarios such as education, culture and tourism, transportation hubs, commercial circles, and office parks. In the densely populated Zhongshan Road, the field test of the 5G-A network achieved a downlink speed of up to 3Gbps.

Zhongshan Road in Xiamen has fully covered the 5G-A network. In Gulangyu, Fujian Mobile has established the province's first "5G-A wireless + 50GPON wired" dual 10G demonstration area, with a measured download speed increase of 10 times.

Low latency and integrated perception with determinism are the directions for future efforts.

Currently, the three major operators have successively revealed their plans for the deployment of 5G-A this year. China Mobile stated that it will invest nearly 10 billion yuan this year to further expand the scale of AI applications in 5G-A wireless networks, achieving intelligent transformation of over 400,000 base stations. China Telecom will launch a 5G-A experience activity for friendly customers from February 10, 2025, until the end of the year, with the first batch of experiences taking place in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and other locations, with subsequent gradual expansion to more regions. China Unicom will fully commercialize 5G-A services in the main urban areas of 39 key cities in 2025 and complete business deployment in the core areas of over 300 cities.

Huang Ying, director of the Industrial Internet Research Department at the Institute of Technology and Standards of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, stated that the industrial digitalization field has always been a leader and main battlefield for 5G industry applications. Nearly half of the 5G applications worldwide are still in the concept verification and demonstration stage. In the face of competitive pressure, traditional telecom operators are integrating internal and external B-end capabilities and gradually transforming towards industry application solutions.

Huang Ying believes that 5G-A is a key industrial stage that bridges the past and the future, continuously enhancing 5G capabilities and introducing fusion technologies for perception, communication, AI, and the integration of terrestrial and space systems in advance for 6G. The focus of current 5G-A advancement is on ultra-large uplink and downlink and lightweight solutions, while the next step will emphasize low-latency determinism and integrated perception.

The "CITIC Consultant "14th Five-Year Plan" Key Industry Implementation Toolkit - 5G-A" predicts that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the number of 5G-A users in China is expected to approach 1.3 billion, accounting for more than 50% of the total number of 5G-A users worldwide, with network coverage achieving a dual leap in both depth and breadth.

Source: Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily

Author: Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily