The number of 5G subscribers in Beijing has reached 50,000 since the country's three major telecom operators launched 5G commercial services on Oct. 31, the municipal information and communications administration said Thursday.
Around 4,000 cellphone users in Beijing are switching on to the ultrafast next-generation technology on a daily basis, the administration added.
Currently, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom are offering consumer 5G services, with monthly plans starting at 128 yuan (US$18). According to statistics, almost half of the 5G users in Beijing have opted for China Unicom service, and around 40% adopted the China Mobile plan.
Users of the new-generation network could experience various 5G-enabled applications such as 4K online streaming, virtual reality (VR) videos, cloud gaming, and augmented reality (AR) interactions, while also benefit from various IoT and AI use cases in their daily lives.
To ensure more stable connections and wider coverage, China Unicom and China Telecom announced cooperation in building and sharing their network infrastructures in Beijing and other 14 cities nationwide. So far, over 7,000 5G base stations in Beijing are shared by the two operators.
By the end of October, the three major telecom operators had built 14,542 5G base stations in Beijing to provide continuous 5G coverage in areas within the city's Fifth Ring Road, major suburban regions, as well as areas where important events such as the 2022 Winter Olympics will take place.
