5G private network new "outlet" operators boost vertical industry digital applications

///

The deployment of China's private network is constantly increasing. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of November 2021, the cumulative construction of virtual private networks and hybrid private networks in China exceeded 2300, and in 2020, the number of 5G virtual private networks will be about 800.

The development of 5G private network has given new capabilities to the digital and intelligent transformation of various vertical industries, and in 2022, with the needs of operators subdividing user scenarios, accelerating the landing of 5G private network projects in various industries, 5G private networks are expected to achieve large-scale replication.

Policy support promotes the construction of private networks with high enthusiasm

For the construction of the private network, the policy has given strong support. In January 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Industrial Internet Innovation and Development Action Plan (2021-2023)", which clearly stated that it will deepen the "5G + industrial Internet", support industrial enterprises to explore the construction and operation mode of 5G private network, plan the 5G industrial Internet dedicated frequency, and carry out industrial 5G private network pilots. Facing 2022, Xiao Yaqing, minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that it will accelerate the large-scale construction of virtual private networks in the 5G industry and lay a solid foundation for network facilities for digital transformation.

At present, Guangdong, Beijing, Hunan and other provinces (cities, districts) have issued relevant policies for the construction of 5G private networks. Taking Guangdong as an example, Nanhai District of Foshan City supports enterprises to build a 5G customized private network combined with the industry application system, and a single project is funded according to 30% of the actual investment, up to a maximum of 5 million yuan; the application of 5G data traffic services, 5G public network dedicated, 5G private network, and 5G dedicated line service fees in the production process of enterprises is subsidized by no more than 30% of the service cost, and the annual subsidy is up to 500,000 yuan.

It can be expected that in 2022, the enthusiasm for the construction of 5G private networks will be increasingly high, and the volume of 5G private networks will gradually increase.

5G private network empowers thousands of industries

In the construction of private networks, the three major operators are the main force that will not be tolerated. As of the end of November 2021, the number of 5G private networks in China exceeded 2300. Among them, China Telecom's private network construction is rapid. At the Tianyi Intelligent Ecology Expo in November 2021, Shangguan Yafei, general manager of China Telecom's government and enterprise information service business group, revealed that 850 5G customized commercial networks have been landed so far, and China Telecom's plan in 2021 is to build 1,000 5G custom commercial networks.

Today, 5G private networks are widely used in industrial manufacturing, medical, transportation, ports, logistics, education and other industries. In Xiamen, recently, the monitoring terminal of the equipment information room of the meteorological station of Xiamen air traffic control station clearly showed the picture of the distribution room in the middle of runway 05 and the runway, marking the first successful application of telecom 5G slice wireless private network technology in Xiamen air traffic control station, which greatly saved the time of on-site detection and improved work efficiency. In Shandong, Shandong Energy Group and China Unicom jointly launched the research and development project of the mining 5G private network system, released the mine high-reliability 5G mining private network system, and applied 5G technology to the mine, which can accurately and comprehensively obtain various information such as underground safety, production and environment, realize the reliable transmission of data, real-time control of equipment, provide support for the comprehensive interconnection of people, machines and materials in the mine, and achieve the reduction of personnel and efficiency and safety.

With the acceleration of 5G to empower thousands of industries, 5G private network has become a new "outlet", and the market prospect is broad. According to the forecast of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the market size will reach 27.3 billion yuan in 2022.

The upgrade of private network capabilities promotes large-scale landing

At present, the 5G private network is mainly pilot demonstration construction within some powerful enterprises, and with the acceleration of the application of the 5G industry, the construction of the 5G private network will also move towards the stage of popularization and promotion.

In this regard, China Telecom subdivides the needs of user scenarios, innovates and launches the 5G custom network capability Cube, further realizes the "1" to "N", and promotes 5G scale replication and commercial closed-loop.

While promoting the large-scale replication of 5G private networks, the capabilities of 5G private networks are also upgrading. Wen Ku, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Communications Standardization Association, pointed out at the IMT-2020 (5G) conference held in December 2021 that the current virtual private network in the 5G industry is moving from 1.0 to 2.0, and the toB general network is evolving from a tob general network to a customized network in various industries.

In the process of evolution, China Mobile released the 5G private network technology system 2.0, from the three aspects of network capabilities, private network services and equipment systems, from the three categories of the technical system 1.0 12 capabilities expanded to four categories of 24 capabilities, further improving the ability of China Mobile's 5G private network service vertical industry, and promoting smart factories, smart mines, smart ports, smart medical and other industries into the stage of scale replication.

China Unicom released the 5G industry private network product system 2.0 (that is, "5G private network PLUS"), which has the characteristics of network customization, cloud-edge collaboration, terminal intelligence, operation intensification, security systematization and service integration, compared with the 5G industry private network product system 1.0, to achieve network leapfrog, industry leapfrog and service leapfrog.

With the upgrading of 5G private network capabilities and the laying a solid foundation for digital transformation of network facilities, the future will promote the accelerated landing of 5G industry applications, and will further promote the 5G private network from pilot demonstration to popularization.