Nation's 5G penetration rate to hit 90% in 2023

Network maintenance staffers at the local subsidiary of China Mobile in Tongling, East China's Anhui Province test antennas for 5G base stations on December 13, 2021. As of early December, the Tongling subsidiary had built over 650 5G stations, enabling full coverage in Tongling's rural hot spots. (Photo/China News Service)

The coverage of 5G in China will reach more than 90 percent with the installation of another 360,000 base stations this year, an official from China's largest telecom operator China Mobile said on Tuesday, which indicates China's leading position in 5G rollout in the world.

Bian Yannan, deputy general manager of planning and construction department under China Mobile, made the remarks at a forum held in Beijing, while revealing the progress of 5G innovations. A good number of new 5G products will be commercialized this year, Bian said.

Currently, the number of China Mobile's 5G base stations in China stand at more than 1.7 million with an penetration rate of more than 85 percent following four years of development, the operator said.

The number of China Mobile's 5G end users has reached 480 million. Last year, 5G network revenue exceeded 5 billion yuan, according to China Mobile.

"From the perspective of 5G, we are leading the world in scale," said Li Huidi, vice general manager of China Mobile.

China has vowed to speed up the construction of virtual private networks in the 5G industry and enrich the country's 5G application scenarios. Official data show that the number of total 5G base stations in China surged to 2.73 million by the end of April, amid the country's efforts to roll out the world's largest and most advanced 5G cellular infrastructure. In addition to China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom are other major operators providing 5G services.

China will improve the coverage of high-quality networks such as 5G and gigabit optical networks by continuously optimizing the infrastructure layout, and build a batch of 5G-enabled factories, Industry and Information Technology Minister Jin Zhuanglong said at the opening forum of the 31st PT Expo China in Beijing on June 4, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Jin said that China is eyeing the next-generation internet, as well as other frontier fields, and comprehensively advancing the research and development of sixth-generation (6G) communications and networking technology.

The incubation of emerging sectors will be quickened, while efforts will be made to enhance the country's full-industrial-chain advantages in the sectors of cellular and optical communications, according to Jin.