Radio and Television 5G officially takes off, how the golden frequency band will be used attracts attention

June 27 may be a historic day for China Radio and Television and the entire Chinese communications industry.

At 10 a.m. , China Radio and Television announced the official launch of 5G network services. This marks that China Radio and Television, which has held a 5G license for three years , has truly realized the operation of communication services, and China's communication service market has also moved from a three-way competition to a four-way competition. On the same day, China Radio and Television 5G also officially launched its official website and announced the content and price of 5G packages. The 5G price that users are most concerned about has been settled . At this point, China Radio and Television officially started its "career" as a communication operator.

In fact, in early June, China Radio and Television also released the three major brand logos and slogans of "China Radio and Television", "Radio and Television 5G" and "Radio and Television Smart Home". The new Radio and Television 5G logo also appeared on the doorplates of radio and television business offices in various places. In less than a month, a series of major actions have been taken. It is not difficult to see that after three years of preparation, Radio and Television 5G has been ready to go.

█ Starting from scratch and moving forward steadily: the preparation and construction process of 5G in radio and television

All sectors of society have always shown great enthusiasm for radio and television 5G.

In fact, long before the country issued 5G licenses, radio and television and the 700MHz frequency band it owns have been hot topics in the communications industry.

Earlier in 2019, when the news that China Radio and Television would enter the construction and operation of 5G networks spread, it caused a stir in the industry. Many people exclaimed: The landscape of China's communications industry may be changing.

Later, the news came true. On June 6, 2019, China Radio and Television, together with China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, received 5G commercial licenses from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, becoming one of the domestic 5G operators.

Since then, people's attention to 5G in radio and television has continued to grow. Everyone has been speculating on how the construction of 5G in radio and television will be carried out from scratch. Whether radio and television is capable of completing the construction of 5G network and whether it will pose a threat to the three major operators.

In May 2020, the mystery was finally solved, and China Radio and Television and China Mobile officially signed a 5G co-construction and sharing cooperation framework agreement.

According to the agreement, the two parties will jointly invest in the construction of the 700MHz 5G wireless network in a 1:1 ratio, and jointly own and have the right to use the 700MHz 5G wireless network assets. The two parties will give full play to their respective advantages, share resources and build together, and accelerate the construction of 5G networks in an efficient and intensive manner.

In other words, the cooperation between China Radio and Television and China Mobile will form a "2 V 2" competition landscape with China Telecom and China Unicom, and they will jointly compete for the domestic 5G market.

Since then, 5G has officially entered the implementation stage, the network construction plan has been clarified, and multiple biddings have been organized. The bidding projects include not only 5G base stations, but also core network platforms, business systems and customer service systems, etc., and each time it attracts close attention from the industry.

Some bidding project information

According to information disclosed by Song Qizhu, Chairman of China Radio and Television, at the World Telecommunication Day Conference in May this year, China Radio and Television and China Mobile have completed the construction of 200,000 700MHz base stations in counties, townships and rural areas in 2021. In 2022, the construction of 280,000 base stations in the central urban area will be completed, achieving continuous coverage of areas above the township level and extending widely to administrative villages. He also stated that the national radio and television 5G number release operation work can be fully realized as soon as possible with the support of all parties.

In short, in the past three years, China Radio and Television's 5G construction work seems to be orderly, but in fact it is swift and vigorous.

█Golden frequency band, obvious advantages: 700M has infinite value

The core advantage of China Broadcasting and Television's 5G is its own 700 MHz frequency band. The 700 MHz frequency band has always been considered the golden rice bowl of China Broadcasting and Television and the golden frequency band in the eyes of operators.

Why is 700M so important?

This requires starting with the basic properties of radio electromagnetic waves.

Mobile communication is a technology that uses radio waves for communication. Radio waves of different frequencies have different physical properties.

In middle school physics class, we all learned a formula: speed of light = wavelength × frequency. The speed of light is a constant value, 300,000 kilometers per second. In other words, the wavelength of radio electromagnetic waves is inversely proportional to the frequency. The higher the frequency, the shorter the wavelength.

Electromagnetic waves with short wavelengths have poor diffraction capabilities, and the signal is easily blocked by obstacles, resulting in a shorter propagation distance.

This means that when a base station transmits a signal, the higher the frequency of the radio electromagnetic waves used, the shorter the signal coverage distance and the smaller the coverage area.

At present, the 5G frequency bands used by China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom are mainly 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz. According to data provided by a certain equipment manufacturer, the coverage of each frequency band is compared as follows:

Comparison of single-station coverage radius at the same uplink edge rate (5Mbps)

It can be seen that the coverage distance of the 700M frequency band is significantly longer, even reaching 4.66 kilometers in rural areas.

As mentioned earlier, China Radio and Television built 200,000 5G base stations in 2021 and will build 280,000 base stations in 2022, which adds up to 480,000 base stations. This is only a fraction of the base stations that other operators need to build. However, it is precisely this feature of 700MHz that enables 480,000 700MHz base stations to achieve full coverage of the 5G network.

According to the industry, the coverage of a single 700MHz 5G base station is about three times that of 3.5GHz 5G. This is a huge competitive advantage. Using the 700MHz frequency band to build a 5G network will save a lot of capital costs (equipment, site, electricity, labor, etc.), and significantly reduce network construction and operation and maintenance costs. Therefore, it is called the golden frequency band.

It is worth mentioning that due to the longer wavelength of 700MHz, for high-speed moving objects, the Doppler frequency deviation is smaller at the same incident angle, that is, the negative impact of the Doppler effect is smaller. For high-speed moving scenes such as high-speed railways and highways, the 700MHz frequency band can achieve better signal quality.

This powerful coverage capability also brings obvious changes to user terminals. Theoretically, under the same conditions, the better the signal quality of the mobile terminal, the higher the transmission efficiency, the lower the power consumption, and the longer the terminal standby and use time.

█Lightweight and latecomer advantage: 700MHz model innovation

China Radio and Television is building 5G based on 700 MHz frequency band resources through a co-construction and sharing agreement, which is a major innovation in the operation model. Radio and Television 5G does not need to follow the old path of "heavy assets and long cycles" of traditional operators, but has chosen a new path of "light assets and fast operation".

This platform-based operation model that takes advantage of strengths and avoids weaknesses will greatly reduce investment and avoid risks in the later stages of construction. The fact that radio and television can implement 5G number release in such a short period of time is due to the solid foundation laid by this innovative model. In the future, this model will also help radio and television 5G achieve long-term sustainable and high-quality development and form a unique competitive advantage.

As we all know, since the third telecom industry restructuring in 2008, China has formed a competitive landscape of three major operators: China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. This landscape has lasted for 14 years.

The participation of radio and television is undoubtedly a re-activation of the entire communications industry. We need such fresh blood to enter as a "challenger" to break the existing pattern and activate more innovation.

Moreover, since radio and television do not have old networks, they do not have historical burdens. It is easier to paint on a blank sheet of paper. The joint construction and sharing with China Mobile has greatly reduced the cost of hardware construction, which will be more conducive to the introduction of new technologies and new architectures by radio and television.

Of course, for ordinary consumer users, wider 5G signal coverage also gives more people in remote areas the opportunity to enjoy 5G services.

For enterprise customers, 5G is also very attractive. The high-quality network of 700M rapid deployment can shorten the service deployment time and launch new services as soon as possible.

From a macro perspective, for equipment manufacturers and the industrial chain, the participation of emerging operators will bring more demand and orders. The new industrial chain around 700M can stimulate the further development and prosperity of the industry and make the 5G cake bigger.

█Content operation and business integration: the long-term goal of 5G in radio and television

The entry of radio and television into 5G is not as simple as building a network.

According to China Radio and Television's 5G development plan, we can see a grand construction blueprint: the technical evolution direction of "IP-based, cloud-based, intelligent, and integrated", and the network construction goals of "cloud-network collaboration, fixed-mobile convergence, advanced functions, and manageable and controllable". These are all built based on China Radio and Television's own media content attribute advantages, and the ultimate goal is to build a fully integrated business system of "mobile phone + TV + broadband + voice + satellite + X".

In addition, the radio and television industry has another killer weapon ready to go. It is understood that the new 5G NR broadcasting business model developed by the radio and television industry is leading the evolution of world standards. The radio and television industry has also been approved to build a national broadband cluster command system based on the 700MHz 5G network.

The exploration of 5G application scenarios by radio and television will not only update product forms, but will also extend to the deep integration of basic forms, organizational forms and even channel ecology. With the "seamless" integration of terrestrial data TV broadcasting networks, 5G networks, and wireless broadband networks, radio and television will develop new forms and new services with end-to-end full IP transmission and comprehensive wireless.

In terms of platform construction and toB application implementation, the radio and television industry is actively exploring and increasing its efforts. They have promoted major projects such as the radio and television 5G application platform, the national industrial Internet security platform, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences private network, and have created more than 100 smart radio and television and radio and television 5G application cases for government, commercial, civil, and industrial use.

With the official launch of 5G services for radio and television, radio and television networks will play an important role as the main force and main channel in supporting media integration, serving cultural livelihoods, and promoting the development of the digital economy. In the digital transformation of various industries, radio and television 5G also has a lot of room for development and a promising future.

Conclusion ​

Of course, the official launch of 5G network services by China Radio and Television is only the first step in a long journey.

The construction of the basic communication network is a long process. Xiaozaojun needs to remind everyone to look at the network experience of radio and television 5G rationally and objectively, and give them more time. I believe that with the passage of time, radio and television 5G will surely grow rapidly and bring users more satisfactory experience and services.

Let us wait and see what wonderful performances will be brought after the radio and television 5G sets sail!

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