China kicks off commercialised 5G services

More than 86,000 5G base stations have already entered services in China


China Economic Net November 01, 2019
China Mobile announces its services are available in 50 cities - including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen . PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING: China officially kicked off commercialisation of 5G services on Thursday, with the nation’s big three telecom operators rolling out their 5G data plans.

The move shows consumers can finally pay to access the superfast speed of 5G as more than 86,000 5G base stations have already entered services in China.

Chen Zhaoxiong, Vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology, the nation’s industry regulator, said China has been working hard to extend 5G network coverage. By the end of this year, more than 130,000 5G base stations will enter into service to support the network, marking one of the world’s largest 5G deployments.

The big three telecom operators, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, for the first time chose to set tariffs by internet speed rather than data allowance. For instance, China Unicom prices the data plan, which allows peak speed of 500Mbps, at 199 yuan. For those who want to enjoy peak speed of 1Gbps, they will have to pay at least 299 yuan.

This article originally appeared on the China Economic Net 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2019.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ