China Unicom is also testing 5G technology in other Chinese cities such as Nanjing, Guiyang, Chengdu, Shenzhen and Fuzhou
Chinese telecom giant China Unicom’s Beijing subsidiary has launched its 5G initiative with the aim of paving the way for the deployment of 5G networks, Chinese press reported.
Under this initiative, dubbed ‘NEXT 5G’, the telco will build 300 5G base stations in the city of Beijing this year.
China Unicom also announced plans to pilot 5G technology in Tianjin, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guiyang, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Zhengzhou, and Shenyang.
China Unicom’s Beijing subsidiary Vice General Manager Wang Chuanbao said that the company will pilot the commercialization of 5G technology and test the 5G networks in China’s capital in 2018.
Beijing will apply 5G technology in major projects and events in the next five years, such as the capital’s new international airport, the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, said Jiang Guangzhi, an inspector from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.
The Beijing branch of China Unicom also said that it will work with enterprises to deploy 5G technology in a wide range of fields including self-driving, logistics, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Other Chinese operators are also getting ready for the future deployment of commercial 5G networks in the Asian country.
In May, China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, announced plans to deploy 100 5G-ready base stations in Shanghai later this year as part of its plans to launch commercial 5G services in China in 2020.
In March this year, China Mobile announced plans to build what it claimed to be the world’s largest 5G trial network. The operator said it will start 5G trials in five Chinese cities this year. The company will conduct outdoor field tests in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou and Wuhan.
The telco plans to deploy small-scale “apps demonstration” trials in a dozen other cities, including Beijing and Shenzhen. According to Liu Guangyi, CTO for terminal and wireless technology at China Mobile Research Institution, the trial networks will mostly run in the 3.5 GHz band.
Last year, the Chinese telco had announced plans to deploy more than 10,000 5G base stations by 2020. The carrier also said that it expects to launch a pre-commercial 5G service in 2018.
China Telecom said it plans to run laboratory and networks tests of 5G technology until the end of 2018, before commencing pre-commercialization of 5G technology in 2019. The telco aims to launch commercial 5G services in 2020.
China Telecom is testing 5G technology in 17 cities including Shenzhen, Shanghai, Suzhou and Chengdu.
Last year, China Telecom signed an agreement with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) to collaborate on several areas related to 5G including smart manufacturing, internet of things, smart cities, big data and networking.
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