China ended 2023 with a total of 3.38 million 5G base stations at a national level, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said.
By the end of last year, the country had more than 10,000 5G-powered industrial internet projects and 5G pilot applications were launched in key areas such as cultural tourism, medical care and education to help restore and expand consumption, said Xin Guobin, vice minister of MIIT, at a press conference.
The country’s 5G mobile phone users reached 805 million by the end of last year, he added.
According to the estimates of Chinese research institutions, 5G technology was expected to help create an economic output of CNY1.86 trillion ($261.36 billion) in 2023, an increase of 29% compared with the figure recorded in 2022, Xin said.
The coverage penetration of 5G technology in China was expected to reach 90% as of the end of 2023, local newspaper Global Times reported, citing an executive from local carrier China Mobile.
Bian Yannan, deputy general manager of planning and construction department at China Mobile, had said that this penetration rate would be achieved thanks to the deployment of 360,000 5G base stations during 2023.
China Mobile had already deployed a total of 1.7 million 5G base stations across the Asian nation, and says that its 5G penetration rate is more than 85%.
China aims to start commercializing 6G technology by 2030 and expects that the standard-setting for the technology will be achieved around 2025, according to Wang Zhiqin, the head of China’s 6G promotion team and vice president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
Wang recently noted that China began 6G technological experiments last year and has been carrying research on 6G system architecture and technical solutions during 2023.
In June 2023, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that the Chinese government allocated spectrum in the 6 GHz frequency band for 5G and 6G services. The 6 GHz spectrum is the only high-quality resource with large bandwidth in the mid-band, taking into account its coverage and capacity advantages, the ministry said, noting that the 6 GHz range is particularly suitable for the deployment of 5G systems or 6G systems in the future.
The ministry noted that the allocation of the 6 GHz band at this time is “conducive to stabilizing the expectations of the 5G/6G industry.”