ANN/CHINA DAILY – Experts and business executives highlighted that in several Chinese cities, there is active exploration of 5G-A network construction and application scenarios.
This exploration is seen as unlocking extensive opportunities for the technology’s development and the digital economy.
5G-A, also known as 5G-Advanced or 5.5G in some contexts, represents a significant advancement beyond 5G, offering notable enhancements in capacity, speed, latency, and positioning. For instance, 5G-A boasts internet speeds that are 10 times faster than those of 5G.
Currently, Chinese telecom operators are actively conducting pilot deployments across various provinces. In Beijing, China Mobile’s local unit has collaborated with companies like ZTE and MediaTek to deploy 5G-A networks in 18 densely populated areas, resulting in more than 1,500 operational 5G-A base stations.
Similarly, China Unicom and China Telecom have also undertaken such deployments, bringing the total number of 5G-A base stations in the city to over 3,500.
Earlier this month, 35 cities and regions jointly announced the start of the 5G-A era, actively promoting the evolution of 5G technology and application innovation.
“2024 is widely recognised as the first year of 5G-A commercialisation with operators, industry chains, equipment and standards gradually maturing. There is immense potential for development in 5G-A business models, application scenarios and industry ecosystems. The development path for 5G-A is becoming increasingly clear,” said Wu Hequan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, at a recent conference.
“5G development has reached a turning point. The application of 5G-A can meet the high bandwidth and low latency demands of extended reality and the internet of vehicles, which 5G cannot adequately support. 5G-A is crucial for enhancing and surpassing the current 5G network signal and is a necessary step toward upgrading to 6G,” Wu added.
Zhao Zhiguo, chief engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a recent event hosted by the Beijing Communications Administration that further efforts are expected to strengthen China’s leading advantages in 5G-A and quantum communication technologies, and advance breakthroughs in strategic technologies such as 6G, artificial intelligence and the next-generation internet.
Wen Ku, chairman of the China Communications Standards Association, said 5G-A international standards focus on continually enhancing 5G network capabilities and expanding new use cases, initiating comprehensive integration with artificial intelligence.
“Comprehensive integration with AI has become a core direction for the evolution of future communication networks,” Wen said.
However, he also stressed that the smart development of mobile networks is a gradual process. The 5G-A is designed to lay a solid foundation for 6G to enable strong AI, promoting the transition from 5G “light intelligence” to achieving 6G “systematic intelligence”.
Huawei’s Senior Vice-President Cao Jibin predicted that in the next 5-10 years, the 5G-A network could cover needs in personal, household, office, production and travel scenarios, creating substantial economic value.
“Going forward, Beijing will actively advance the construction and deployment of 5G-A networks and actively expand application scenarios in areas such as new industrialisation, urban governance, livelihood experiences and rural vitalisation,” said Su Shaolin, head of the Beijing Communications Administration.
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