Chinese tech hub Shenzhen says it’s the first city in the world to to have full stand-alone 5G coverage

Shenzhen aims to have its stand-alone 5G network power smart factories, medical technology and more
Often compared to Silicon Valley, the city is home to Chinese tech giants like Tencent and Huawei

Masha Borak

Published: 10:00am, 19 Aug 2020

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In most cities around the world, people are still waiting for 5G to arrive with all its futuristic promises of super fast wireless internet. But in China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen, sometimes called China’s Silicon Valley, the mayor says it’s the first to achieve “full coverage”.

Mayor Chen Rugui made the announcement this week. State media reported that Shenzhen was the first city in the world to have full coverage of a stand-alone 5G network, which doesn’t rely on existing 4G infrastructure.

The city didn’t specify what it means by full coverage or whether people in even the remotest areas within the city limits can now expect a 5G signal to reach them. So far, Shenzhen has built more than 46,000 5G base stations, said Jia Xingdong, director of the city’s Industry and Information Technology Bureau.

“Shenzhen tops the world in the number of 5G base stations and in shipments of 5G terminals,” Jia told China Daily.

Having a stand-alone 5G network might not matter much to the average smartphone user. The first wave of wave of 5G networks rely on 4G infrastructure while still delivering an impressive speed boost.

Unlike non-stand-alone networks (NSA), a stand-alone network (SA) requires more infrastructure to operate independently – a more costly and time-consuming endeavour. This could eventually be important for industrial applications such as smart factories, with SA 5G networks delivering lower latency and improved performance.

Shenzhen now has more than 46,000 5G base stations, according to Jia Xingdong, director of the city’s Industry and Information Technology Bureau. Photo: Xinhua

Shenzhen, once known as the factory of the world, is today perhaps best recognised for the several tech giants that call the city home. Familiar names include gaming giant and WeChat developer Tencent, smartphone and telecommunications equipment makers Huawei and ZTE, and DJI, the world’s largest consumer drone company. The city is also home to a bevy of hardware start-ups, many of which rely on the factories in the surrounding Pearl River Delta region to make their products.

This might explain the interest in industrial applications for 5G. The existing base stations are also set to power the city’s 20 projects demonstrating 5G applications. The projects are worth a combined 1.6 billion yuan (US$231 million) and cover medical technology, industrial internet, and transportation, among other areas.

China’s race to build up 5G connectivity is partly a result of a big push from the government, which has made 5G expansion a national strategic priority. When 5G went live in China last November, the country called it the largest 5G network in the world. And even when Covid-19 was still rapidly spreading through the country earlier this year, local carriers vowed to complete their infrastructure deployments without delay.

For now, 5G coverage remains patchy in many cities. The country had 410,000 5G base stations by the end of June. It plans to hit half a million this year, covering all cities above prefecture level, according to Wang Zhiqin, vice president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), who spoke at Monday’s event.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Shenzhen becomes first city to achieve ‘full 5G coverage’

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