Chinese enterprises gear for 5G era leadership

Visitors look at the new smartphones released by ZTE at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. (Photo by Wang Di from People’s Daily)

By Wang Di(王迪) from People’s Daily

Chinese companies are seeking a breakthrough and leading position in 5G technology, judging by the products they showcased at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The conference attracted nearly 100,000 visitors and more than 2,000 manufacturers from over 100 countries and regions.

The P10 launched by Huawei is the first smartphone in the world that supports the 4.5G network. With a double download rate of regular 4G cellphones, the P10 also delivers a sound signal performance.

Gigabit Phone, a concept phone unveiled by China’s ZTE Corporation, can reach 1 gigabits per second download rate.

In an interview with the People’s Daily, Zhang Jianguo, Senior Vice President of ZTE, said that Chinese enterprises were always catching during the 2G, 3G and 4G era, but now have some advantages in the 5G technology.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the advancement of 5G technology, he added, adding that “relevant tests conducted since last year enable China to catch up with or lead the world in certain aspects.”

“It is hoped that Chinese companies and the global telecommunication industry can work together on the 5G standard,” Zhang noted.

Compared with other industries, one significant feature of the mobile telecommunications industry is that its standard is very much tied to its development. A say in formulating the standard would certainly drive up the industry.  Deciding the 5G standard would depend not only on the technology and market but also national interests.

According to the 5G timetable released by the International Telecommunication Union, the solicitation of 5G technical protocols and standard formulation would be completed by 2020. The relatively complete technical standard proposals of all countries should be submitted before June 30, 2018.

Last year, the Huawei-led Polar Code was selected as the 5G standard. It’s the first time a Chinese company entered into a basic telecommunication framework agreement. Business insiders believe the acceptance of the Polar Code lays the groundwork for Huawei in the 5G technology.

China has an ambitious roadmap for 5G technology. In 2016, 5G development was included in the “Made in China 2025” strategy, Guideline of the 13th Five-Year plan (2016-2020) and Guideline on the 13th Five-Year Plan on China’s National Informatization (2016-2020).

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently announced the establishment of the largest 5G test field in the world in Beijing’s Huairou district. With the participation of leading domestic and global companies, the test field can provide a terminal-to-terminal test environment, which is helpful to the 5G standard formulation and the industry’s development.

Zhang Feng, the chief engineer of Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that the 5G technology research experiment which began in 2016 has now entered its second stage. He said China could launch the commercial application of 5G technology in 2020.