China Unicom's Wang Xiaochu: We are fully prepared for 5G commercial use

At the 2019 China International Information and Communication Exhibition and 5G Commercial Launch Ceremony, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the three major operators, officially announced the commercial use of 5G, and the 5G package rates were finally released.

In his speech, Wang Xiaochu, Chairman of China Unicom, said that China Unicom has made full preparations for 5G commercial use in terms of building a high-quality network, cultivating an application ecosystem, and promoting terminal development.

In terms of network capabilities, China Unicom has unswervingly promoted co-construction and sharing, and jointly built the world's first 5G co-construction and sharing network with China Telecom. Through co-construction and sharing, users can enjoy 5G network services with greater bandwidth, higher speed and wider coverage. At present, the two parties have opened 5G co-construction and sharing base stations in 24 provinces and cities. Taking speed as an example, the latest test data shows that the peak speed of the co-construction and sharing 5G network can reach 2.5Gpbs, which is the highest speed measured in the global 5G existing network.

In terms of industry applications, China Unicom is committed to building an open and win-win ecosystem and an integrated innovation model with all parties in the industry, establishing a 5G Application Innovation Alliance, promoting the innovation and integration of 5G technology and industry applications, and promoting the digitalization, networking and intelligent development of all industries, focusing on industrial Internet, smart cities, new media, transportation, medical care, education, culture and tourism and other industries to carry out application demonstrations.

In terms of public services, China Unicom will upgrade its services and quality. It is convenient to access the network. Users can use the 5G network with a 5G mobile phone by default. In addition, a large video operation platform with a centralized network will be established to aggregate high-quality applications and content. In terms of tariff packages, the capacity will be further expanded on the basis of the original 4G packages.

In terms of 5G terminals, it will promote the development of 5G mobile phones and pan-intelligent terminal industries. So far, more than 10 5G commercial mobile phones have been launched, among which the most affordable one is only 3,600 yuan. Wang Xiaochu revealed that at the beginning of next year, a richer variety of 5G mobile phones with higher cost performance will be launched. (Zhang Jun)

The following is the full text of Wang Xiaochu’s speech:

Dear Minister Chen Zhaoxiong and Academician Wu Hequan,

Chairman Yang Jie, Chairman Rui Wen, colleagues and guests:

Good morning, everyone! Minister Chen just announced the official commercial use of 5G in my country. This is another major measure to implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's strategic deployment of building a strong network country, another "milestone" in the development of my country's information and communications industry, and another major achievement of the collaborative cooperation of all parties in the industry. Standing at a new starting point, China Unicom will always keep its original aspirations in mind and keep its mission in mind, and make every effort to contribute to the development of China's 5G and the implementation of the strategy of building a strong network country!

At present, China Unicom has made full preparations for 5G commercial use in terms of building high-quality networks, cultivating application ecosystems, and promoting terminal development.

In terms of network capabilities, we are unswervingly promoting co-construction and sharing, and jointly building the world's first 5G co-construction and sharing network with China Telecom. Through co-construction and sharing, we have doubled the coverage, doubled the speed, and provided better services. Customers can enjoy 5G network services with greater bandwidth, higher speed, and wider coverage. Currently, both parties have opened 5G co-construction and sharing base stations in 24 provinces and cities. Taking speed as an example, the latest test data shows that the peak speed of the co-construction and sharing 5G network can reach 2.5Gpbs, which is the highest speed measured in the world's existing 5G network.

In terms of industry applications, China Unicom is committed to building an open and win-win ecosystem and a model of integrated innovation with all parties in the industry, establishing a 5G Application Innovation Alliance, promoting the innovation and integration of 5G technology and industry applications, and promoting the digitalization, networking and intelligent development of all industries, focusing on industrial Internet, smart cities, new media, transportation, medical care, education, culture and tourism and other industries to carry out application demonstrations. At present, we mainly provide large bandwidth services. In the near future, we will be able to provide services with low latency and massive connections. We will also actively promote the deep integration of 5G networks and artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing, enhance innovation capabilities, continuously evolve 5G network capabilities, promote the implementation of edge computing capabilities and end-to-end network slicing capabilities, provide comprehensive empowerment for the Internet of Everything, and promote high-quality development of industrial transformation. We also sincerely hope to work with chips, modules, terminals, system integration, content applications and various software and hardware partners to jointly devote ourselves to the construction of the new 5G ecosystem.

In terms of public services, we will keep up with the upgrading of customers' consumption needs and provide a new upgraded experience. First, service upgrades and network access are more convenient. We adopt the default login method, and customers can use the 5G network with a 5G mobile phone. We will also promote O2O experiential services to achieve offline experience and online processing of 5G services, so that users across the country can handle services in different places without leaving home. Second, quality upgrades and more excellent experience, we will establish a large video operation platform that is centralized across the entire network, widely aggregate high-quality applications and content, and provide a richer, higher-definition, and smoother VR/AR viewing experience, as well as various application services. In terms of tariff packages, we have further "expanded" on the basis of the original 4G packages, providing more traffic, more content rights and better services, and bringing more sense of gain to customers.

In terms of 5G terminals, we will work with the industry chain to vigorously promote "5G mobile phones, universal standards, affordable prices and ubiquitous terminals" to promote the development of 5G mobile phones and pan-intelligent terminal industries. So far, more than 10 5G commercial mobile phones have been launched on the market, among which the most affordable one is only 3,600 yuan. At the beginning of next year, we will launch a richer variety of 5G mobile phones with higher cost performance.

In short, China Unicom will give full play to the advantages of dual network sharing and wider coverage to provide strong network support for the development of 5G in my country; strengthen the advantages of centralized systems to provide customers with higher quality services; accelerate the improvement of the cooperative innovation system and promote the construction of a thriving new industrial ecology.

Extreme 5G connects the future. Standing at the intersection of history and the future, let us join hands and cooperate sincerely to create new value in the 5G era! I wish the 5G industry prosperity!