Tech & Sci
2019.11.25 17:18 GMT+8

Commercializing 5G: Subscription growing, users hope for cheaper package fees

Updated 2019.11.25 17:18 GMT+8
Ma Ke

Over 50 Chinese cities have started commercializing 5G and there are more than 110,000 base stations installed nationwide. But talking in reality, how's the 5G pilot project going so far? And what's next for China's 5G users?

Nearly a month into China's commercialized 5G era, sales data from industry leader Huawei and ZTE show over four million 5G cellphones have been sold since June.

But China's top three telecom carriers say only 870,000 of them have subscribed to 5G packages. Some users say they're hesitant because of the package fee.

China's top three telecom carriers say 870,000 users have subscribed to 5G packages. /Fantastic Graphics

The carriers say the package fee only looks higher, but price per gigabyte is actually lower.  

Yin Shaochun, deputy general manager of China Unicom, said that under 4G, customers are charged for megabytes used. But for 5G, they are charged for gigabytes. He said when 4G packages first came in, it was 60 yuan per gigabyte and now 5G packages charge only three yuan per gigabyte. 

Another question at hand is the actual coverage of 5G signals.

Beijing has installed over 11,000 base stations, a large number of which still under test conditions.

But a salesperson at Huawei says many users decided to buy a 5G cellphone first, and wait for the package prices to drop and signals to improve.  

Li Xue, salesperson at a Huawei store in Beijing, said many of their customers want to buy a phone that can support 5G, so that when the service formally replaces 4G, they don't have to switch phones.  

At the World 5G Convention which just wrapped up in Beijing, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology announced plans to provide large-scale 5G coverage by 2020. Beijing alone will increase its amount of base stations to 14,000 by the end of this year.

In transportation, the new Beijing Daxing International Airport is using 5G technology for facial recognition.

The new Beijing Daxing International Airport is using 5G technology for facial recognition./VCG Photo

In medical treatment, Beijing's PLA General Hospital successfully conducted the world's first remote 5G brain surgery in March.

In sports, the Chinese capital used 5G live-streaming for the 2019 Basketball World Cup this September, and is preparing for 5G+8K High Definition coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Beijing is preparing for the 5G+8K High Definition coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics./VCG Photo

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