CHINA’S 5G mobile phone subscriptions reached 1.002 billion by the end of November, a milestone in the world’s leading telecom market, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) showed Monday.
This figure represents 56 per cent of all mobile phone subscriptions in the country, marking an increase of 9.4 percentage points compared to the end of the previous year. The rapid growth in 5G subscriptions has been supported by massive infrastructure development. MIIT figures show China had deployed about 4.2 million 5G base stations by the end of last month. Earlier this year, industry calculations indicated that China’s 5G base stations — the relay point between mobile phones and the larger internet — accounted for more than 60 per cent of the global total, highlighting the country’s leading position in 5G deployment worldwide.
China has 29 5G stations per 10,000 people, marking the early completion of a development goal set for the 14th FiveYear Plan period (2021-2025), said Zhang Yunming, vice minister of MIIT, earlier this month.
Zhang said 5G networks now provide comprehensive coverage across China, including key areas such as government service centres, cultural and tourism sites, and major transport routes.The ministry is also expanding 5G coverage in rural and remote areas. The MIIT and 11 other government departments have jointly issued an upgraded plan for large-scale 5G applications, targeting widespread implementation by end-2027.
This second “Set Sail” action plan since 2021 emphasizes strengthening 5G applications, particularly in consumer-oriented sectors. It sets 2027 targets, including 38 5G base stations per 10,000 people, a 5G personal user penetration rate exceeding 85 per cent, and 5G network access traffic accounting for over 75 per cent of the total traffic.
China’s 5G-led mobile ecosystem created about eight million jobs in 2023, according to a Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) report. Another industry report estimates that in the five years since 5G’s commercial launch in China in 2019, it has directly driven a total economic output of about 5.6 trillion yuan (about US$767 billion) and indirectly boosted output by around 14 trillion yuan.
Xinhua
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