PRESS RELEASE: On January 23, 2024, China Mobile Henan completed the world’s first large-scale commercial trial of 5G-Advanced (5G-A) IntelligentRAN. In this joint undertaking by China Mobile Henan, China Mobile Research Institute, and Huawei, more than 2000 5G-A IntelligentRAN sites were deployed in the province’s capital to provide network coverage in mainstream scenarios such as high-speed railway stations, hospitals, schools, residential areas, and scenic spots. The success of the trial demonstrates Henan Province’s readiness for large-scale application of intelligent 5G-A.
5G-A is an evolution and enhancement of 5G in terms of network speed, latency, and connectivity. Compared with 5G, 5G-A delivers higher network throughput with millisecond-level latency. It also features other capabilities such as low-altitude economy and communications, passive IoT, and native intelligence, which can support more complex and diversified applications, such as autonomous driving, telemedicine, and Industry 4.0. When asked about the project, Wang Fei — a planning and technology director of China Mobile Henan — remarked that they have progressed beyond verifying 5G-A technology to integrating it with industrial applications with the aim of digitalizing a wider array of industries.
Last year, China Mobile Henan deployed China’s first commercial 5G-A private network in a coal mine run by Yujin Energy Company. Based on this network, they built a digital intelligent scheduling system with 45 integrated safety subsystems to mitigate operational risks. The project marks the first deployment in China of a 5G-A network that provides coverage for important underground areas in mines with high levels of natural gas.
5G-A also helps Henan Province develop its culture and tourism industry. For example, over 80,000 visits are recorded in an international tourist resort in the province every day, and the resort is equipped with thousands of devices, which results in huge network demand. China Mobile Henan opted for innovative technologies such as 5G-A intelligent resource control and dynamic switching between 2.6 GHz and 4.9 GHz networks to provide differentiated services for users and ensure stable network access for HD livestreaming. This has effectively supported 5G ultra-HD mobile livestreaming traffic stimulation for 90 livestreaming channels and intelligent dispatch of 230 5G public network intercom terminal devices without blind spots. Another example of the use of 5G-A in Henan Province is the deployment of 5G-A IntelligentRAN sites in the provincial capital’s airport in order to automatically identify service types such as voice calls, short videos, and cloud phones, and automatically generate differentiated service network resource assurance policies based on the requirements of specific services on network performance indicators such as latency and speed. This maximizes network capabilities, optimizes network performance, and improves user experience.
Wang emphasized China Mobile Henan’s determination to speed up the development and innovative application of 5G-A in fields such as smart electric power and autonomous driving in order to boost productivity.