China’s four major telecom operators have announced that they will jointly launch the world’s first 5G cross-network roaming trial commercial service in Xinjiang. This service will allow users to access other telecom operators’ 5G networks when their own operator does not have 5G network coverage in a particular area.
China Mobile’s General Manager, Dong Xin, stated that the company has already built 1.55 million 5G base stations and covered 300 million households with its gigabit broadband network, making it the largest telecom operator in terms of scale. This announcement is part of China’s efforts to improve its telecom services.
According to China Mobile’s Annual Economy Report, 5G will overtake 4G as the dominant mobile technology in China by 2024. 5G adoption continues to rise as network deployments expand and more affordable devices become available.
The report also stated that China will be the first market in the world to have 1 billion 5G connections, with this milestone to be reached by 2025. And by 2030, China will have 1.6 billion 5G connections, accounting for nearly a third of the global total.
In January 2023, China launched the world’s first 5G cruise ship, aiming to provide seamless multimedia interaction and reliable mobile connectivity for passengers and staff.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had previously given China Mobile the green light to conduct trials of its 5G air-to-ground (5G-ATG) technology, which allows passengers on planes to access the internet. The use of 5G-ATG is also expected to promote the development of smart aviation to meet the increasing demand for data transmission during flight.
