According to operational data, excluding China Unicom, as of the end of February 2020, the total number of 5G package users of China Mobile + China Telecom had reached 26.13 million, while the cumulative domestic 5G mobile phone shipments during the same period were 21.614 million. At present, an important factor restricting the active 5G market is the popularization of terminal equipment.
The day before yesterday, China Mobile’s first quarterly report showed that the number of 5G customers at the end of March increased to 31.723 million, a nearly five-fold increase compared to two months ago.
Explosive growth of 5G end users
2019 is known as the first year of 5G, in which the three major operators opened 5G services in some cities. 5G can provide an experience far beyond that of 4G services, with qualitative improvements in latency and communication speed, attracting a large number of mobile phone users to open 5G packages.
On April 20, China Mobile released its financial report for the first quarter of 2020, showing that the number of China Mobile 5G package customers reached 31.723 million at the end of March, and only 6.736 million at the end of January, a nearly five-fold increase compared to two months ago. 5G package customers refer to personal mobile phone customers who subscribe to 5G tariff packages, excluding customers who do not subscribe to 5G packages and only share 5G package resources.
In the annual reports of the three major operators, they all showed their ambitions for market development in 2020. By the end of this year, the number of 5G package users in my country is expected to reach nearly 200 million. China Mobile said that it will strive to basically achieve 5G coverage in urban areas above prefectures and cities nationwide by the end of 2020, with a net increase of 70 million 5G package customers; China Telecom is expected to add 60-80 million; China Unicom is expected to add 50 million.
Except for some 5G mobile phone users who have two 5G mobile phone cards, the gap of 4.5 million means that a large number of users have applied for 5G packages, but have not used matching 5G mobile phones. With the large-scale promotion of 5G mobile phones by Huawei, Xiaomi, Apple and other manufacturers, it is believed that this shortcoming will soon be filled.
Rush to Mount Everest 5G new infrastructure to open a new situation
In March 2020, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting and proposed to speed up the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers.
From the perspective of the specific layout, the three major operators are ambitious, and have planned huge capital expenditures for 5G new infrastructure, totaling nearly 200 billion yuan, achieving a year-on-year multiple growth. China Mobile stated that the 5G-related investment plan in 2020 is about 100 billion yuan, and it strives to exceed the target of 300,000 5G base stations in 2020 ahead of schedule, and strive for 350,000 stations, a sharp increase of more than 6 times compared with the current number of construction and opening. At present, China Telecom and China Unicom have planned 5G expenditures of 45.3 billion and 35 billion respectively. It is expected that in the first three quarters, the construction and opening of 250,000 new co-construction and shared 5G base stations will be completed, covering all cities in the country.
Obviously, the raging epidemic has not stopped the development of 5G construction. Recently, the news that Mount Everest, the restricted area of life, will cover 5G signals within this month once again let us see the strength and speed of China’s 5G construction. On April 20, Huawei China stated on its official Weibo that it would help the three major operators to complete the opening of 5G base stations on Mount Everest. On the same day, China Mobile has made substantial progress in the special campaign “5G on Mount Everest” officially launched since April this year. The VR live broadcast of Mount Everest has been launched, and the opening of 5G base stations such as Mount Everest Base Camp and Transition Camp has been completed. It is expected that on April 25 A few days ago, China Mobile’s 5G signal will cover the summit of Mount Everest. On April 19, China Telecom has opened 5G network services on Mount Everest and conducted live broadcasts on Mount Everest around the clock.
China has the broadest wireless communication market. Taking the initiative in the 5G era can bring huge economic benefits and is also the key to determining China’s competitive position in the global new generation of information technology. According to the estimates of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the total output and economic added value directly contributed by 5G in 2030 will be 6.3 trillion yuan and 2.9 trillion yuan respectively; the total output and economic added value indirectly contributed by 5G will be 10.6 trillion yuan and 36,000 yuan respectively. billion.
As the epidemic affects the global economy, the second half of the year will be a key period for ensuring employment and stabilizing the economy, and the development of the communications industry will bring huge economic contributions and employment opportunities to the society. According to the research results of the Evergrande Research Institute, the wireless communication industry has a multiplier effect, excluding downstream indirect industries such as Industry 4.0, Internet of Vehicles, smart cities, and smart medical care. Referring to the development history of 4G, every dollar invested can drive a GDP growth of $3.2. Each additional job can lead to 7.7 related jobs. According to CTIA statistics, since 2010, the wireless communication industry has created a total of 4.7 million related jobs, driven a cumulative output of 1 trillion US dollars, and contributed 475 billion US dollars to the US GDP growth every year.
5G is the first investment opportunity in the field of “new infrastructure”
The second phase of 5G centralized procurement that began in early 2020 will be implemented. With the gradual resumption of work and production in the whole society, the second and third quarters will enter the accelerated construction period. In 2020, China Mobile’s 5G Phase II wireless network main equipment centralized procurement scale will reach 37.088 billion, and domestic manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, and China Telecom will gain the largest share.
In China, 5G is used as a part of “new infrastructure” to drive domestic economic growth, indicating that the construction process that was stagnant or delayed in the first quarter due to the impact of the epidemic is expected to catch up in the second and third quarters. Countries and related domestic manufacturers will receive more orders than expected.
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