Beijing taking lead in speeding 5G rollout

A few 5G mobile phones will hit market in second half of this year

Fifth-generation mobile network 5G has appeared at China’s two sessions’ press centre. From central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to the southeastern Beijing sub-centre, the city is taking the lead in speeding up 5G rollout.

Reporters, who come to Beijing to cover annual meetings, could get first taste of 5G technology, such as transferring photos or videos at a fast speed, watching the two sessions’ conference live wearing virtual reality glasses and using the high-speed wireless internet on designated computers. All of these facilities are powered by 5G, China Unicom told the Global Times at the two sessions press centre on Sunday.

Two sessions is a meeting of legislative delegates and political advisers in China - the largest political event for the year. Twenty-five provinces and cities nationwide are testing 5G networks, according to Zhang Yunyong, a member of the 13th National Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and President of the China Unicom Research Institute.

Zhang added that a few 5G mobile phones would hit the market in the second half of current year. “It only takes three seconds to download a high-definition movie of 1GB with 5G,” Zhang said in the delegates’ corridor during the two sessions on Sunday.

Another state-owned telecom operator, China Mobile, plans to cover the area within the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing with 5G by the end of this year, Liu Yu, head of the planning and technology department at China Mobile Beijing branch, told the Global Times on Friday.

“We have already installed 5G base stations alongside Chang’an Avenue, Tiananmen Square, the sub-centre of Beijing, at China Central Television, in the Central Business District and at the National Stadium in Beijing,” Liu said.

Liu also said in 2019, the 5G network construction would prioritise Bejiing’s new airport and the 2022 Winter Olympics facilities.

This article originally appeared on the China Economic Net.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2019.

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