5G industry timeline in pictures

my country's IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group plans to conduct trial commercialization in 2018 and commercialization in 2020. The IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group, together with the three major operators and major equipment manufacturers such as ZTE, Huawei, and Datang, actively promotes 5G technology verification and standard formulation, and divides the overall technology verification and research and development into three steps. The first step of 5G key technology verification and the second step of 5G technical solution verification have been completed, and the third step of 5G accelerated commercialization is currently being promoted.

5G timetable of the three major operators

In accordance with the plan of the IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group, the three major operators have basically determined to carry out 5G pilot projects in key cities in 2018, pre-commercial use in 2019, and official commercial use in 2020.

China Mobile said it will build the world's largest 5G test network, officially announced the 2018 5G large-scale test plan, and jointly launched the "5G Terminal Pioneer Plan" with 20 global terminal industry partners;

China Unicom said at an international partner conference on June 26 that it will conduct large-scale 5G experiments in 16 cities this year, and carry out business applications and typical demonstrations.

China Telecom released the "China Telecom 5G Technology White Paper" at the 2018 Shanghai World Mobile Congress on June 26, announcing that its 5G network will give priority to SA solution networking and achieve synergy between 4G and 5G networks through core network interoperability.

Local governments have intensively introduced new policies to set a timetable for 5G development

According to relevant ministries, local governments and the three major operators, 5G scale testing and application testing have been piloted. Localities have set timetables for 5G coverage and accelerated infrastructure construction in an attempt to gain an advantage in this 5G race. Many places have also formulated corresponding industrial development plans around 5G.

8月13日，中国联通在北京发布“5G NEXT”计划，宣布今年将在16个城市开展5G试验，其中北京已经确定为今年5G试验的重点城市，另外15个城市分别是雄安、天津、沈阳、青岛、南京、上海、杭州、福州、深圳、广州 、郑州、成都、重庆、武汉、贵阳。

China Mobile will adopt a "5+12" pilot program, with Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou and Wuhan as the first batch of 5G pilot cities, and 5G business application demonstrations in 12 cities including Beijing and Chongqing. Large-scale pre-commercial trials are expected to be carried out next year.

China Telecom's 5G pilot cities are "6+6". Xiong'an, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Lanzhou have been confirmed, and 6 more cities will be added.

The first batch of 5G mobile phones in China are expected to be launched in the second half of 2019

The popularity of 5G networks still depends on smartphones. Major domestic mobile phone manufacturers are stepping up their 5G process, and 5G is getting closer and closer to consumers. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's plan, it is expected that my country will tape out the first batch of 5G chips before New Year's Day 2019 and complete it around the Spring Festival; commercial base station construction will be carried out in the first half of 2019, and the first batch of 5G mobile phones will be produced in the second half of the year.

At the same time, the 5G plans of domestic mobile phone manufacturers also coincide with the time nodes of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's planning and operator testing. Huawei has announced that it will release its first mobile phone supporting 5G network bands in the second half of 2019, and Xiaomi co-founder and president Lin Bin has also said that Xiaomi hopes to be one of the first manufacturers to develop and release 5G mobile phones. OPPO, vivo and other mobile phone manufacturers also plan to launch 5G pre-commercial terminals in 2019 and 5G mobile phone products in 2020.

According to a report previously released by market research firm Counterpoint Research, 5G smartphones will enter the initial commercialization stage in 2019. After experiencing slow growth in the early stages, they may show explosive growth in 2021, with shipments exceeding 110 million units.