Yongxing Island, South China's Hainan Province, has started testing 5G technology, which industry analysts said signals a vital outcome in the local telecom industry's construction and one that will help the frontier area catch up to the informatization level of inland cities.
Some islands in Hainan have begun testing 5G. For instance, there are now three 5G base stations on Yongxing Island that offer downloads at rates of 700 to 800 megabytes per second, Wen Ku, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), told a press conference in Beijing.
Yongxing is home to the government of Sansha, China's southernmost city.
China is conducting 5G tests in comprehensive situations, so conducting such tests on islands like Yongxing, where geographical conditions differ from those in other cities, will provide more test data to improve the maturity of the country's 5G industry, Fu Liang, a Beijing-based telecom industry expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Tests like these are preparations for the large-scale promotion of 5G base station construction next year, Fu noted.
Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times that 5G network tests will meet local demand and more informatization applications are likely to be realized in the area.
The commercialization of 5G technology has proceeded soundly in the Chinese market. The three domestic telecom carriers had launched more than 80,000 5G base stations by the end of September, according to the MIIT.
Wen said that network speeds in urban and rural areas in China are the same, which helps narrow the digital gap.
The first 5G base station in Sansha was launched by China Mobile in April. As of the end of September, the number of 5G bases in Hainan Province had reached 507 and the province had realized 5G network coverage in all of its cities and counties, including Sansha, Wang Jing, head of Hainan's provincial department of industry and information technology, said at a meeting on October 12.
On June 6, the MIIT issued 5G licenses for commercial use, marking the beginning of a new era in China's's telecommunication industry.
Cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province and Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, achieved contiguous coverage of 5G network, Chen Zhaoxiong, vice minister of the MIIT, said during this year's World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang Province.
Chen said that it is expected that more than 130,000 5G base stations will be launched nationwide by the end of 2019.
