Page 114 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2022

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

China Welcomes Fourth Mobile Operator to the World of 5G

Back in 2019, a group of Chinese cable broadcast and television
operators, then known as China Broadcasting Network (CBN),
won spectrum in the country’s national 5G spectrum auction,
signaling their ambition to become the nation’s fourth fully-fledged
nationwide mobile operator. The government-backed company
won 80 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum and 100 MHz of 4.9 GHz
spectrum, both of which can be used to provide 5G services.
Catching up with the likes of China Unicom, China Telecom, and
China Mobile when it comes to 5G, however, will be no mean feat.
5G subscribers currently account for around a quarter of the trio’s
existing subscriber base, totaling around 428 million people. As
such, the greenfield mobile operator will need to scale up quickly if
it is to prove competitive. Earlier this month, the China Broadcasting
Network was rebranded as China Broadnet and at the same time
announced it was taking pre-registration for 5G phone numbers.
China Broadnet has begun its 5G journey in earnest, announcing ($17.60) for 40GB of data, while China Mobile charges roughly 10
the launch of commercial services. For now, it seems that the yuan ($1.50) more for a similar plan ¬– but whether this will be
operator has very little in the way of its own network infrastructure, enticing enough to secure a significant market share remains to
being largely reliant on a network sharing agreement with China be seen. Nonetheless, Broadnet does have something of a unique
Mobile signed back in early 2021 to offer services to customers. selling point for customers in its broad array of media assets, with
The 11-year network sharing deal was split into two phases; the the operator hoping to become a converged mobile and media
first year-long phase, would see China Broadnet able to purchase company, providing immersive and interactive broadcast and
wholesale access to China Mobile’s 2G, 4G and 5G networks for TV media services, including the use of augmented and virtual
the duration of 2021, while the following 10-year phase will allow reality, which will be enabled by their 5G network. In related news,
China Broadnet access China Mobile’s 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz earlier this month, China Broadnet announced that it had selected
networks, as well as committing them to the shared deployment ZTE to provide the 5G core network for a location-based service
of a large-scale deployment of a shared 700MHz network. This (LBS) project, seemingly initially focused on providing support for
network sharing agreement will allow China Broadnet to today emergency services. ZTE will deploy their technology at one site
offer 5G services to a huge proportion of Chinese consumers in Beijing and another in Nanjing, with the result being that all of
but luring them away from the more established providers will Broadnet’s 5G customers will be able to benefit from emergency
be difficult. Based on the company’s website, it seems that its location services, with further applications for the technology
mobile plans are slightly cheaper than comparative offers by related to enterprise customers expected to be announced in the
China Mobile – for example, its cheapest 5G plan is 118 yuan near future.

FCC Identifies a Path Forward for 5G C-Band Near Airports

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced progress
toward allowing Verizon and AT&T to enhance 5G service around
certain airports while protecting commercial air travel from
disruption by 5G C-band interference. “We believe we have identified
a path that will continue to enable aviation and 5G C-band wireless
to safely co-exist,” said Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen. “We
appreciate the willingness of Verizon and AT&T to continue this
important and productive collaboration with the aviation industry.”
The phased approach requires operators of regional aircraft
with radio altimeters most susceptible to interference to retrofit
them with radio frequency filters by the end of 2022. This work
has already begun and will continue on an expedited basis. At the
same time, the FAA worked with the wireless companies to identify
airports around which their service can be enhanced with the least
risk of disrupting flight schedules.

114 MAY-JUNE 2022