5G-A network deployment helps China develop low-altitude economy

The latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China shows that the total number of 5G base stations in China has reached 4.042 million, accounting for 32.1% of the total number of mobile base stations, and the network scale ranks first in the world; related applications have covered 74 major categories of the national economy. In addition to the large-scale replication of mature 5G applications, the low-altitude economy has also become a major focus of the industry in the exploration of various new application scenarios.

Experts introduced that low-altitude application scenarios require the ground network signal to cover hundreds of meters upward. At present, more than 330 cities in China have started the latest 5G-A network deployment, which will create the world's largest low-altitude communication network.

The economic operation of the communications industry from January to August 2024 released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China in September shows that 5G network construction continues to advance. As of the end of August, the total number of 5G base stations reached 4.042 million, a net increase of 665,000 from the end of last year, accounting for 32.1% of the total number of mobile base stations, an increase of 3 percentage points from the end of last year.

As of the end of August, the total number of mobile phone users of the three basic telecommunications companies and China Radio and Television reached 1.778 billion, a net increase of 34.52 million from the end of last year. Among them, 5G mobile phone users reached 966 million, a net increase of 144 million from the end of last year, accounting for 54.3% of mobile phone users, an increase of 7.7 percentage points from the end of last year.

As of the end of August, there were 1.785 million, 916,000, 1.082 million and 259,000 5G base stations in the eastern, central, western and northeastern regions, respectively, accounting for 33.1%, 33.5%, 29.3% and 32.9% of the total number of mobile phone base stations in the region; the number of 5G mobile phone users reached 422 million, 228 million, 251 million and 65 million, respectively, accounting for 54.7%, 54.7%, 54% and 52.4% of the total number of mobile phone users in the region.