China Radio and Television and State Grid have joined forces to enter the 5G market, and the ubiquitous power Internet of Things is stable!

The rumor that State Grid and the 5G license holder will set up a joint venture has finally been confirmed.

On December 18, relevant media reported that they had verified with the radio and television system and confirmed that China Radio and Television and State Grid Corporation will cooperate in the 5G field. Relevant work is progressing in an orderly manner, and the cooperation plan will be released as early as the end of the year.

As soon as this news came out, there were many different opinions. Some were waiting and watching, some were excited, some were skeptical, and some were optimistic.

A few hours later, another bombshell came in. On the evening of December 18, a document titled "State Grid 5G Network Construction Plan" was exposed (unofficial), and the State Grid plans to use China Radio and Television's 700MHz frequency band and 60MHz spectrum resources to carry out 5G network construction.

The plan shows that the State Grid will cooperate with the Radio and Television to build 113,100 base stations. The construction content is divided into six parts: core network construction, bearer network construction, base station construction, network management and support system construction, security system construction and service company production and operation self-use business terminal construction.

At this point, the rumor that has been hyped up has finally come to fruition. China Radio and Television and State Grid, one has money and the other has a license, have joined forces to enter 5G, which means that China's telecommunications industry will change from the current "three kingdoms" to the "four major families" in the future.

A good show is about to begin.

1. The story of the cooperation between China Radio and Television and State Grid

In fact, before the news of the establishment of a joint venture between State Grid and the 5G license holder came out, China Broadcasting Corporation, which was awarded a 5G license in June this year and officially became the fourth largest operator in the telecommunications industry, was not favored by the industry.

Compared with the three giants, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, the industry's impression of China Radio and Television is "no funds, no foundation, but only a 5G license", and its construction progress is not ideal. Currently, there is only a 5G test network in a small industrial zone.

On the other hand, the 5G construction of competitors, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, is in full swing. At present, the number of 5G base stations in the country has exceeded 110,000, and in another half a month, the total number is expected to exceed 130,000.

The turning point came in early December. First, there were rumors: the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had received a document from the State Council notifying that China Media Group and State Grid Corporation of China would cooperate to develop 5G based on the 700M channel, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved 5G number segment 192 for State Grid Corporation of China.

At the same time, rumors also claim that State Grid has officially given up its 5G cooperation with China Mobile. This news is so clear that even the number segment information is so clear, which can be said to be true.

Then, on December 11, State Grid announced the Outline of Key Construction Tasks for Ubiquitous Power Internet of Things in 2020, which identified 40 key construction tasks in eight directions. In terms of technical research, 5G construction and pilot applications were clearly mentioned.

Then, on December 16, an institution predicted that State Grid Corporation of China will become an important builder, user and operator of 5G networks through cooperation with licensees.

After two days of rumors, on December 18, some media claimed that they had confirmed with the radio and television system that the operator cooperating with the State Grid in the 5G field was China Radio and Television, which had not taken any action on 5G construction.

If the previous rumors were a heavy "bomb" dropped on China's telecommunications industry, then the exposure of the "State Grid 5G Network Construction Plan" completely ignited this heavy "bomb".

On the evening of December 18, a document titled "State Grid 5G Network Construction Plan" was exposed (unofficial). The State Grid plans to use China Radio and Television's 700MHz frequency band and 60MHz spectrum resources to carry out 5G network construction.

It seems that even the specific 5G construction plan has been determined, so the previous rumors seem to have been set in stone and are just waiting for the official announcement.

2. The significance behind “China Radio and Television + State Grid”

The reason why the combination of "radio and television + power grid" can cause such a big ripple in the industry is that the cooperation between the two companies is bound to rewrite the competitive landscape of the entire industry.

From the perspective of China Radio and Television, let's review the doubts people had about China Radio and Television before. First, those who think it has no funds can forget about it, because State Grid has money and is very wealthy.

The annual revenue of State Grid is more than 2 trillion yuan, which is three times that of China Mobile. China Unicom cannot be compared with it. In other words, State Grid has sufficient investment capital and can continuously inject blood into 5G construction.

Secondly, those who question whether it has any basis can stop questioning because the State Grid has a basis and is everywhere.

In China, there are transmission towers of the State Grid everywhere. As long as communication equipment is installed on these transmission towers, they can be "shared towers" and become ready-made 5G base stations. The State Grid also has widely distributed substations and distribution stations, which can provide high-quality site resources for massive edge data centers in the future.

Regarding the above two aspects of support alone, some netizens joked: Are you afraid, the three giants in the telecommunications industry?

Of course, the State Grid is not omnipotent, and there are certain problems in the communication system: the low-voltage distribution network communication network faces the need for real-time monitoring of a large number of equipment points and a large number of equipment points. Fiber-optic communication cannot achieve full coverage of the low-voltage distribution network due to laying and construction issues; the delay characteristics of 4G wireless networks cannot meet the millisecond-level delay requirements of power grid control services, cannot achieve effective isolation of key services, and cannot meet the diversified and small-grained business needs of the power grid.

However, the above problems are exactly the application environment that the 700M radio and television 5G network is most suitable for, and it can deeply practice key capabilities such as 5G network slicing. For radio and television, State Grid is a ready-made super large customer.

3. The power distribution network is completely blank, and the State Grid has an urgent need for 5G

From the perspective of State Grid itself, its demand for 5G is very urgent. To understand this, we need to first understand the development of my country's power grid.

At the beginning of this year, State Grid Corporation of China proposed the strategic goal of "ubiquitous power Internet of Things". Under the general trend of power reform, it undertakes the task of power grid transformation. The purpose is to adapt to the trend of accelerated integration of traditional industries and the Internet, give full play to the resource advantages of power grid enterprises, cultivate new growth momentum, actively develop platform value-added services and emerging businesses on the customer side, and open up the huge blue ocean market of digital economy.

The power grid system is divided into a high-voltage backbone grid and a medium- and low-voltage distribution network. We can think of the backbone grid as the "arteries" of the human body and the distribution network as the "capillaries".

Before the "ubiquitous power Internet of Things" was proposed, in my country's entire power grid system, in order to ensure the safety and stability of the system, various systems and equipment operation status measurement systems including data acquisition and monitoring control systems (SCADA), synchronized phasor measurement units (PMU), etc. have been installed on high-voltage transmission lines and other equipment, and are equipped with optical fiber communications to achieve reliable power interconnection and information interconnection.

In other words, the backbone grid, the "artery", has achieved intelligence because of information interconnection. However, for the "capillaries" of the lower voltage distribution network, due to factors such as cost, optical fiber coverage has not been achieved simultaneously. In fact, the "smart grid" proposed by the power grid for many years has not been realized.

In addition, compared with the transmission network, the distribution network connects more devices, reaching every user and even every electrical device in every household. Massive devices are only connected through power lines of different voltage levels. However, at present, the massive devices on the distribution and consumption side have not yet fully realized information interconnection. The "last 1 kilometer" of the power system has become a stumbling block to the interconnection of all things in the power system and needs to be solved urgently.

The ubiquitous power Internet of Things under 5G will realize the "last mile" interconnection and information interconnection of the above-mentioned power systems.