Viewpoint
The Chinese operators continue to move from strength to strength in the 5G ecosystem. They are making a mark by utilizing advanced 5G technologies and innovative applications to expand their applications scale, leading to a growing and fast Return On Investment (ROI).
China is at the forefront of global 5G developments. 5G brought double-digit growth to operators both last year and the first quarter of this year. Today, the country has more than 400 million 5G users and is also witnessing a growing demand for 5G use cases in the enterprise sector. China has the highest number of 5G users in the world. It has fast-tracked the 5G development by building more than one million 5G base stations, which will help meet the growing demand for 5G applications.
The Chinese operators are investing heavily to build networks of the future. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology estimates that Chinese telecom operators are likely to invest up to 1.2 trillion yuan by 2025. Further, there is an expected investment of 3.5 trillion yuan in the upstream and downstream segments of the industrial chain and other related areas.
Successfully Expanding Application Scale To Provide Digital Experience For Users
An apt example of the Chinese operators leading the 5G developments is the launch of the inter-carrier 5G UHD Voice over New Radio (VoNR) service, 5G New Calling, by China Telecom and China Unicom on April 26 this year. The service was initially launched in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou and Tianjin but will be extended to more than 100 major cities in May.
By using a 5G network, 5G New Calling connects faster and offers superior audio and video quality. Furthermore, when compared with 4G HD VoLTE, 5G New Calling enables users to realize zero freezing, improved definition and allows users to call without adding friends.
The combination of 5G New Calling and industry applications further promise to provide an improved interactive communication environment for industries. This will allow the enterprises to gain a competitive edge by delivering more value to their customers. 5G New Calling provides an improved digital experience to the consumers while allowing enterprises to leverage smarter and converged digital applications for acquiring new capabilities.
Setting Robust Foundation For A Better 5G Future
Another key instance of a breakthrough by Chinese operators is the recent launch of crucial wireless technology for deterministic 5G networks, Super Time Frequency Folding, by China Telecom.
The Super Time-Frequency Folding technology brings together the "zero-wait" advantages of TDD large bandwidth and FDD air interface. This allows one single network to efficiently support multiple service capabilities such as low latency, high reliability, large capacity, and large uplink, meeting the extreme network performance requirements of the industry, and to help the industrial Internet realize business value.
This solution provides exceptional network capabilities with a latency of just 4 milliseconds, 99.9999% reliability and 1 Gbit/s bandwidth, allowing it to address the needs of the industries and helping them accelerate their digital transformation. In addition, China Telecom has committed to coming up with new technologies and solutions to help enterprises from different industry verticals benefit from 5G to acquire new competencies.
"China Telecom stands ready to work with players from various industries to constantly drive technology and model innovation," says Liu Guiqing, Deputy General Manager of China Telecom.
The Super Time-Frequency Folding technology meets the requirements of Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) for new applications, requiring high uplink and downlink speed and high bandwidth for the industries to automate their operations. This will also help in the more efficient running of the functions and will allow employees to work with more ease.
In Conclusion
The Chinese operators are setting new benchmarks in collaborating with each other and with other industry players to grow the 5G ecosystem, bring down their operational expenses and deliver innovative applications and superior experience to the end-user. This is not only helping them to quickly increase their return on investment but also to be at the forefront of the global 5G developments.
