China to issue 5G licenses for commercial use

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01:18

China will soon issue 5G licenses for commercial use, the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Monday.

China has established competitive advantages in the development of the 5G industries through the combination of self-innovation and cooperation, and is ready for the commercial use of 5G, the ministry said.

According to IPlytics, an intellectual property analysis service, China held the largest number of patents in 5G as of March this year, accounting for a third of the world's total, followed by South Korea, the U.S., and Finland.

5G can be 100 times faster than 4G. /VCG Photo

During the technical test phase, foreign companies including Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Intel were deeply involved.

So far, countries including South Korea, the U.S., and the UK have already seen 5G services for civil use. Huawei played an important role. The telecom giant is a leading supplier of base stations, a key facility that enables exchange of signals between devices.

As the Internet helps connect people, the 5G-based tech makes it possible to connect all kinds of objects. /VCG Photo

With 5G has not yet reached universal use, it is much faster than 4G, sometimes 100 times faster. Downloading a film could take over 10 minutes with 4G, but only seconds with 5G.

But there's much more than that. The jump of speed allows a better visual experience on entertainment devices. 5G's boost to cloud computing tech means things around us can become smart and analytical. As the Internet helps connect people, 5G-based tech makes it possible to connect all kinds of objects.

(CGTN's Guan Chao and Chang Wei also contributed to the story.)