PRESS RELEASE:  At the Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2022 (MBBF2022), China Unicom Beijing and Huawei announced the completion of the world’s largest 5G 200 MHz high-bandwidth network that includes more than 3,000 base stations scattered throughout Beijing’s core urban areas. The new deployment enables the 5G carrier aggregation (CA) effective rate to reach up to 85%, which gives users access to a peak download speed of 1.8 Gbps, an average download speed of 885.7 Mbps, and an average upload speed of 260.4 Mbps.

China Unicom Beijing’s 5G user base and service traffic have grown by leaps and bounds, alongside the growth of the 5G sector at large. Its average daily 5G traffic in Beijing now exceeds 2000 TB, more than 30% of its 5G devices are CA-capable, and applications requiring high network speeds, such as AR/VR, are becoming mature. Soaring 5G user traffic and demand for higher speeds convinced China Unicom Beijing to deploy a large-scale 200 MHz high-bandwidth network.
Based on China Unicom Beijing’s innovative digital operations mode and Huawei’s cutting-edge 5G technologies, the 200 MHz network was completed in August 2022, with more than 3,000 sites deployed throughout the core urban areas of the capital city. China Unicom Beijing and Huawei held a media experience tour in late September, inviting prominent media outlets to experience the benefits of the 200 MHz network firsthand, by passing through various trunk roads, streets, and alleys in Beijing. 12 indicators were evaluated across four categories (availability, stability, experience, and coverage), including CA effective rate, which was used for the first time to evaluate the continuity of 200 MHz high-bandwidth CA. During the experience tour, the CA effective rate reached 85%, the downlink peak user-perceived rate reached 1.8 Gbps, the average downlink throughput reached 885.7 Mbps, the uplink peak user-perceived rate reached 400 Mbps, the average uplink throughput reached 260.4 Mbps, and the good coverage ratio remained above 99%. This excellent network performance provided the necessary support for the four common 5G applications that were tested: mobile office, mobile education, mobile entertainment, and AR/VR, with connections remaining seamless even in fast-moving vehicles.

5G Capital network evaluation results

Yang Lifan, Deputy General Manager of China Unicom Beijing, said: “The 5G Capital project would not have been such an enormous success without Huawei’s cutting-edge technologies and our digital capabilities. We deployed the world’s largest 200 MHz high-bandwidth network, which doubles scale, capacity, rate, and applications across the board, fully covers Beijing’s core urban areas, and delivers ultimate user experience.”
Ritchie Peng, President of Huawei’s 5G Product Line, noted the historic nature of this deployment: “We are honored to have worked with China Unicom Beijing on 5G network construction, and achieved a new milestone — the large-scale deployment of a second 5G carrier. We will continue to pursue innovative coverage enhancement solutions that are based on customer requirements, to make the benefits of CA accessible to more people.”