Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Promote the development of new consumer terminals such as virtual reality and enrich 5G application carriers

Zhao Zhiguo, director of the Information and Communications Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, took a photo by The Paper's reporter Zhou Wei

On January 20, at the press conference on the development of industry and informatization in 2021 held by the Information Office of the State Council, some media asked: What are the achievements in the construction and application of 5G networks in the mainland at present, and what are the shortcomings? For the next development of 5G, what are the deployments and arrangements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and what is the focus?

In this regard, Zhao Zhiguo, director of the Information and Communication Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology conscientiously implemented the decision-making of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, gathered the strength of all parties in the industry, and solidly promoted the innovative development of 5G, and achieved positive results.

First, policy guidance has been continuously strengthened. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with 9 departments, issued the "5G Application "Sail" Action Plan (2021-2023)", which is a three-year action plan to promote the integration and application of 5G and cultivate and expand new momentum for economic and social development. The Joint Health Commission launched the "5G + Medical health pilot" to enrich the application scenarios of 5G technology in the medical and health industry and cultivate the benchmark for the healthy development of smart medical care. Together with the Ministry of Education, we will carry out the application pilot work of "5G + smart education" to promote the high-quality development of 5G technology-enabled education.

Second, network construction has been steadily advancing. As of the end of last year, the number of 5G base stations in the country exceeded 1.4 million, of which more than 800,000 5G base stations were built and shared, and the 5G network has covered all prefecture-level cities, more than 98% of county towns and urban areas and 80% of townships and towns, and the breadth and depth of network coverage have been continuously improved through last year. The annual shipment of 5G mobile phones in mainland China also reached 266 million units, an increase of 63.5% year-on-year, showing a steady growth trend.

The third is the increase in quantity and quality of application innovation. The fourth "Bloom Cup" 5G Application Solicitation Contest was held, and nearly 7,000 participating units collected more than 12,000 projects, and the number and quality of participating projects reached a new high. 5G+4K/8K ultra-high-definition video, 5G+AR/VR and other related applications, last year's 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the cultural performances, live broadcasts, residential services, shopping and other scenarios of the application, to bring consumers a new experience. 5G applications in the fields of industry, cultural tourism, energy, transportation and other fields are also gradually expanding, taking "5G + Industrial Internet" as an example, typical application scenarios such as remote equipment control, machine vision quality inspection, production efficiency control and so on have been deeply applied in key industries such as mining, ports, steel, electric power, petrochemicals and chemicals, helping enterprises to improve quality, reduce costs, increase efficiency, green and safe development, and the results are also remarkable.

Zhao Zhiguo said that in the process of development, 5G still faces relevant challenges such as technology industry breakthroughs, business models to be further matured, and ecological environments to be further optimized, so it is also urgent to coordinate the forces of all aspects and work together to promote the large-scale development of 5G. 2022 is a key year for the large-scale development of 5G applications, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will further implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, continue to improve 5G network coverage, accelerate the deep integration of 5G and vertical industries, and focus on the following aspects:

The first is to continuously consolidate the foundation of the 5G industry, promote the industry to carry out key core technology research on 5G, support enterprises to actively participate in the formulation of 5G series of international standards, and promote enterprises to timely launch multi-level 5G chips, modules and other related products, so as to meet the differentiated needs of industry applications, promote the development of new consumer terminals such as 5G smart phones, wearable devices, virtual reality/augmented reality, and thus enrich the carrier of 5G technology applications.

The second is to solidly promote the construction of 5G networks, appropriately advance the construction of 5G networks, deepen co-construction and sharing, continue to expand the breadth of coverage in counties and townships, and improve the depth of coverage of 5G networks in crowded areas such as high-speed rail, transportation hubs, shopping malls, and key industries such as industry and medical care.

The third is to promote the large-scale development of 5G applications, implement the "5G Application "Sail" Action Plan", hold the fifth "Bloom Cup" 5G Application Competition, do a good job in the "5G + medical health" and "5G + smart education" application pilot work, and promote 5G technology to empower broadcasting, travel and other scenarios, so as to better help the smart Winter Olympics. Create an upgraded version of "5G + Industrial Internet", excavate a number of typical application scenarios such as production line level and workshop level, and promote the construction of 5G full connection projects. Implement the acceleration plan for 5G personal applications, strive to launch a number of new terminals, APPS and other applications, and continuously enhance the people's sense of gain and happiness.