Page 85 - SAMENA Trends - June-August 2021

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Development of 700 MHz 5G Base Stations Drives 5G Investment in China

will be deployed in 2021 and nationwide coverage
will be achieved in two years. According to the
recent study “China’s 5G Base Stations to Double
in 6 Months?” by Strategy Analytics, “So far, most
5G base stations in China are deployed in the 2.6
GHz or 3.5 GHz band. The 480,000 base stations
in 700 MHz will be a significant boost to the 5G
infrastructure market and will also be a catalyst for
the 5G development in China. “The award of CBN’s
5G license has led to increasing interest in the 700
MHz frequency from China’s other three telecom
carriers, China Mobile, China Unicom and China
Telecom, each of which holds 5G licenses for 2.6
GHz and 4.9 GHz. Areas where 700 MHz offers
significant advantages include rural and remote
coverage, and industrial IoT. The 700 MHz band has
The development of 700 MHz 5G base stations will drive 5G investment in China the dual advantages of a wide coverage coupled
in the second half of 2021. Chinese telecom operators are progressing rapidly with low propagation loss, making it ideal for the
with the construction of 700 MHz 5G networks. 400,000 700 MHz 5G base provision of universal coverage in rural and remote
stations are currently planned for deployment during the second half of 2021, areas. The number of base stations required for
making this the key driver of 5G investment in China. 700 MHz networks offer 700 MHz is far fewer than with other frequencies,
mobile operators an attractive combination of wide coverage combined with reducing network CAPEX and OPEX. 700 MHz 5G
low propagation loss, which is ideal for 5G. The vast majority of the network networks only require 20% of the base stations
infrastructure equipment is likely to be sourced from Chinese vendors, of which need for a 2.6 GHz network, 16% of the number
Huawei is the key contributor. China is already among the world leaders for the required for a 3.5 GHz network, and only 11% of the
speed at which it has rolled out its domestic 5G networks. According to China’s base stations needed for a 4.9 GHz 5G network.
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), 847,000 5G base stations “700 MHz could be used to build a nationwide
have been deployed in China, as of June 30, 2021. During the recent MWC 2021, low-frequency 5G shared access network for rural
Bi Qi, chief expert of China Telecom, announced that the total number of 5G base areas and could be shared by the four telecoms
stations in China is expected to reach 1.7 million by the end of 2021, meaning firms to avoid duplication of construction”,
Chinese operators will double the number of 5G base stations deployments over according to Zhang Yunyong, General Manager of
the next 6 months. Commenting on China Telecom’s announcement, an MIIT China Unicom's product center and a member of
spokesperson remarked “...this sounds a quite aggressive number”. However, the National Committee of the Chinese People's
several recent developments in China, notably the partnership between China Political Consultative Conference. Guang Yang
Mobile and China Broadcasting Networks, announced in January 2021, indicate from Strategy Analytics believes that 700 MHz
that the target is realistic. In June 2019, the Chinese Government granted a 5G will enable 5G network extensions to reach
5G license for the 700 MHz frequency to China Broadcasting Network (CBN). broader areas more cost-effectively. In addition,
Launched in October 2020, the company is China’s newest mobile operator and the good radio penetration of 700 MHz band can
the only network authorized to operate nationwide, providing cable TV, mobile, effectively enhance 5G indoor coverage. Both
fixed broadband and satellite communication services. In January 2021, CBN these characteristics help operators improve
and China Mobile announced a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly user experience and grow their customer base.
develop a 700 MHz 5G mobile network and at a China Mobile press conference This means that 700 MHz 5G networks have a
in March, it was announced that the partners plan to complete the construction big potential to stimulate the development of 5G
of 400,000 700 MHz 5G base stations by the end of 2021. The two carriers B2B and industrial IoT applications. CBN has a
agreed to share the investment costs for network construction, expansion, and strategic investment from a subsidiary of the
renovation equally. In addition, China Mobile is providing access to its existing State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid), one
2.6 GHz 5G network to CBN in return for access fees. Work is progressing rapidly of the pioneers of 5G industrial applications in
and the two companies will in total purchase more than 480,000 700 MHz 5G China. State Grid has already deployed some large
base stations this year. According to the bidding result just announced on July scale 5G smart power grid applications. According
18, Huawei has won around 60% share of the total and this procurement of low to Guang Yang “In the future, CBN could leverage
frequency 5G base stations will bring major benefits to Huawei. CBN and China the partnership with the State Grid to explore 5G
Mobile also jointly released the device requirements for 700 MHz 5G in March industrial business opportunities based on the
2021. All 5G smartphone models launched after October 1, 2021, should support superior propagation characteristics of the 700
the 700 MHz band and voice over NR. CBN stated that 400,000 5G base stations MHz band”.

85 JUN-AUG 2021