No 4 telecom operator unveils 5G brands

China Broadcasting Network Co Ltd, the country's fourth-largest telecom operator, unveiled three 5G brands on Monday, which coincided with the third-year anniversary of the country granting commercial licenses for the wireless technology.

The move intensified competition in China's 5G sector, and came as 5G has become a sound digital foundation to help stabilize the economy after three years of development.

The three 5G brands unveiled by China Broadcasting Network are designed to attract consumers who are eager to embrace mobile applications powered by 5G technologies.

Currently, China's three major telecom operators－China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom－have already accumulated about 410 million 5G mobile subscribers in total.

Wen Ku, secretary-general of the China Communications Standards Association, said over the past three years, China's telecom companies have accelerated the systematic deployment of "new infrastructure", and quickened digital transformation and integrated innovation in various economic and social fields.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China has built more than 1.6 million 5G base stations.

Zhang Yunming, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said earlier that China has the world's largest mobile broadband and optical fiber network, and network quality has reached or even surpassed the levels of developed countries.

Zhang said 5G has been applied to a wide range of sectors including transportation, healthcare, education, culture and tourism, and the industrial internet has been applied in 45 categories of the national economy.

The industrial internet refers to the convergence of industrial systems with the power of advanced computing, analytics, sensing and new levels of connectivity.

Currently, more than 2,400 5G-plus industrial internet projects are under construction in China, as the nation beefs up its industrial upgrade drive that attempts to boost the marriage between digital technologies and traditional sectors, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, China is also stepping up its push to pioneer the research and development of 6G technologies. Last week, the IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group, the flagship platform in China to promote 6G R&D and international cooperation, inked a memorandum of understanding on 6G with the 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA), which is the voice of European industry and research for next-generation networks and services.

The two sides will further promote cooperation on 6G, including exchanging information in the field of 6G communication systems and networks. They will also collaborate in the following aspects, such as vision of 6G communication systems and networks, requirements on 6G communication systems and networks, as well as preparation of future global standards by identification of common interest and consensus building.

Looking into the future, both the 6G-IA and IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group seek to organize joint activities, including but not limited to workshops, seminars, webinars, trials and joint publications.