Local carriers expected to deploy nearly 600,000 5G base stations across China this year
Chinese operators are expected to increase the number of base stations in the country by 42% this year, Chinese media outlet Yicai Global reported.
The Chinese government has set a goal to install over 600,000 5G base stations this year, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson Tian Yulong reportedly said. China ended last year with 1.43 million 5G base stations nationwide.
China will also accelerate 5G coverage for business areas, industrial parks, high-speed trains, transport hubs, shopping centers and other crowded spaces, Tian said, adding that the government will heavily promote the innovative development of 5G applications and further advance the demonstration of 5G for industry, health and education.
The official noted that the government also aims to trial 5G for agriculture, culture, and tourism areas.
China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, expects to end 2022 with 1 million 5G base stations, China Mobile Chairman Yang Jie said during a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress 2022.
Chinese operators recorded a net gain of 28.3 million 5G subscribers in January, according to the carriers’ latest available figures.
China Mobile added a total of 14.48 million 5G subscribers during the first month of 2022. The operator said it ended January with 401.28 million 5G subscribers, compared to 386.80 million 5G customers in December 2021.
China Mobile has added a total of 221.8 million subscribers in the 5G segment during 2021.
Rival operator China Unicom said it added a total of 5.56 million 5G subscribers during January. China Unicom ended the month with 160.49 million 5G subscribers.
Meanwhile, China Telecom added 8.26 million 5G subscribers in January to take its total 5G subscribers base to 196 million. During 2021, the telco added a total of 101.3 million 5G subscribers.
China expects to see the number of 5G users exceed 560 million by 2023, according to a government guideline released in July. By then, the 5G network is expected to be used by over 40% of personal mobile phone users, and every 10,000 people in China will enjoy more than 18 5G base stations, the guideline said.
MIIT recently unveiled plans to more than triple the number of 5G base stations over the next four years, targeting a total of 3.64 million by end-2025.
Under this plan, China aims to have 26 5G base stations for every 10,000 people by the end of 2025. In comparison, in 2020, there were five 5G base stations for every 10,000 people in China.
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