Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

The development of my country's 5G network is advancing by leaps and bounds. According to the "Economic Operation of the Communications Industry in the First Quarter of 2021" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of March, my country had a total of 819,000 5G base stations, of which 48,000 were newly built in January-March. However, at the recent 2021 China (Shenzhen) 5G Industry Summit, Sun Songlin, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, also pointed out that despite the rapid progress of my country's 5G industry, it also faces many difficulties such as large capital investment, high power consumption, and lack of unique applications.

For operators, the initial investment in 5G construction is very large, and the increase in tariff unit prices needs to be controlled. Therefore, new business models need to be explored to make industrial applications the key to breaking the game.

5G network construction is far ahead in the world

Over the past year or so since 5G has been commercialized, operators have accelerated the construction of 5G networks and have initially built the world’s largest 5G mobile network. In the first quarter of this year, my country built 48,000 5G base stations, and the cumulative number reached 819,000. The world's largest 5G network has been built. At the 2021 World Mobile Communications Conference, Liu Liehong, Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology, revealed that my country's 5G base stations account for about 70% of the world's total, and 5G networks in independent networking mode have covered all cities in the country.

Recently, the "Global Times" quoted a report published by the German "Business Daily" that Shenzhen has more 5G base stations than all of Europe. The number of 5G base stations has reached 46,000, while the entire country of Germany currently has only a few hundred. It is reported that there are only about 850 mature 5G base stations in Germany. The number of 5G base stations in Shenzhen alone is 54 times that of Germany.

The rapid development of my country's 5G network benefits from a moderately advanced construction strategy. At present, in order to maintain the leading edge of the network, it is necessary to continue to maintain a moderately advanced pace of 5G network construction, expand network coverage, and improve network supply capabilities. Wen Ku, director of the Information and Communication Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that moderately advanced construction is a common feature of public infrastructure, and maintaining moderately advanced construction is in line with the characteristics of the development of the communications industry.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology not long ago, in 2021, China will continue to increase the construction of 5G networks. It is estimated that by the end of 2021, the number of new 5G base stations nationwide will exceed 600,000, which will achieve areas above the county level and some key townships. Coverage.

5G development faces three dilemmas

There is no doubt that 5G will bring about huge changes, but the blueprint for 5G's development is also difficult to implement. Sun Songlin, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said that 5G has encountered difficulties in three aspects: capital, energy consumption, and application.

The capital investment is large, and the later operating costs are extremely high. The total investment of the three major operators in 4G has exceeded 900 billion yuan, and the cost has not been recovered so far. The investment in 5G has exceeded 260 billion yuan so far.

According to the data disclosed by the three major operators, my country will continue to usher in the peak of 5G investment in 2021. China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have 5G investments of 110 billion yuan, 39.7 billion yuan, and 35 billion yuan respectively. The 5G investment reached 184.7 billion yuan, and they are facing tremendous investment pressure.

The power consumption is large, and the power consumption of 5G base stations is 1.5 to 3 times that of 4G base stations, and the high construction density leads to huge overall energy consumption. Although a variety of new technologies continue to emerge to reduce base station power consumption through AI software, innovative hardware, etc., the maturity of technology needs time to polish, and it also needs to be gradually improved through user feedback. 5G power consumption has become the main development contradiction at this stage. If the problem is not solved for a day, the full popularization of 5G will have to be postponed.

There is a lack of unique applications for the time being. The global 5G progress forecast released by Credit Suisse shows that the biggest problem facing 5G in the future is not technology, but the lack of "killer applications." Credit Suisse said that although exciting 5G applications may appear in the future, so far, there has not been a 5G "killer application" for mass consumers like streaming media to 4G.

The maturity of industrialization requires a certain life cycle. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei once said that 5G will take 7 years to mature.

Ultra-high-definition video and industrial Internet have become breakthrough points for industry development

5G is merging with new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and blockchain. The disruptive nature of the industry in the future will be far greater than that of 4G for consumption. The breakthrough point of industry development is beginning to take shape, and ultra-high-definition and industrial Internet are expected to play a role. Great responsibility.

5G empowers ultra-high-definition video. 5G has the characteristics of ultra-high network speed, ultra-large bandwidth, and ultra-low latency, which makes ultra-high-definition video applications have a broader space and boosts the development of applications such as live broadcasting, VR/AR, and cloud games.

In fact, at the time of the 70th anniversary celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, 5G+ ultra-high-definition video has already emerged. Since then, it has been widely used in various fields, such as CCTV Spring Festival Gala program return, Vulcan Mountain Thunder Mountain "Cloud Supervisor", Everest slow live broadcast, etc. The figure of 5G+ ultra-high-definition video. In the future, the combination of rich ultra-high-definition video business scenarios and 5G will greatly enhance the user experience of live sports, variety shows, and large-scale events.

According to the "Ultra HD Video Industry Development Action Plan (2019-2022)" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, by 2022, the overall scale of my country’s UHD video industry will exceed 4 trillion yuan, and the 4K industry ecosystem will be basically complete. Breakthroughs were made in the research and development and industrialization of key technology products.

Former Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei predicted that 80% of 5G application scenarios will be used in the industrial Internet. Li Peigen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes that ordinary users can already experience 5G application scenarios such as smart finance, smart education, and Internet of Vehicles. "In the future, 5G will also be used in Achieve wider applications in the manufacturing sector."

At present, the Industrial Internet has covered more than 30 key industries such as raw materials, equipment manufacturing, and consumer goods. The "5G + Industrial Internet" 512 project has been pragmatically advanced, and more than 1,100 related projects are under construction. 5G will not only help solve the problem of industrial Internet equipment interconnection and interoperability, but will also help support the real-time synchronous transmission of massive industrial data. At the same time, 5G will help expand the breadth and depth of industrial Internet applications.

The "China Industrial Internet Industry Development Prospect Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report" released by the Foresight Industry Research Institute shows that by 2023, the market size of China's industrial Internet industry is expected to exceed one trillion yuan. The Industrial Internet will inevitably become the network with the greatest value in the future, but it is obviously not possible to achieve subversive development overnight. At the 2021 New Generation Information and Communication Industry Academician Forum held recently, Yin Hao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that 5G will help the industrial Internet to reduce costs, improve quality and increase efficiency, but it also needs to address the inadequate cross-border integration, system complexity, and inadequate business models. Clarify the three problems.

The vision is beautiful, and there is a long way to go. In terms of industry, multiple aspects such as terminals, wireless, transmission, and core networks need to work together to overcome difficulties, accelerate progress, and jointly promote the common progress of technology and industry.