PRESS RELEASE: Recently, China Unicom Guangdong officially launched its 5.5G “experience” package and “3T” smart family package in Shenzhen, a city known for its pioneering role in technology innovation in China. At the press conference, China Unicom Guangdong also showcased a series of 5.5G innovative products, including multi-player VR games and cloud games steeped in traditional Chinese culture.
The press conference saw the presence of over 100 representatives from the Shenzhen Government, Huawei, industry partners, and media outlets. They jointly witnessed the release of 5.5G packages.
5.5G Packages Set to Transform User Experience
By the end of this year, the operator plans to recruit 10,000+ volunteers to get a six-month free trial of the 5.5G “experience” package, which provides a downlink peak rate of 2 Gbps and an uplink peak rate of 200 Mbps. Interested users can apply through the official website or at China Unicom’s customer service centers in Shenzhen.
The “3T” smart family package is another highlight, which integrates 5.5G, all-optical broadband networking, U Mobile Intranet, ultra-HD video, and local NAS storage to meet the needs of users for both work and entertainment. This package offers three types of TB-level privileges:
TB-level directional traffic includes a downlink peak rate of 2 Gbps, an uplink peak rate of 200 Mbps, the all-optical home broadband at 2 Gbps, and support of U Mobile Intranet.
TB-level video resources contain 1 TB of high-quality entertainment and learning materials and one-channel broadband ultra-HD TV service.
TB-level storage resources consist of up to 2 TB ultra-high-speed cloud storage and multiple NAS local storage terminals of 1–4 TB.
Innovative 5.5G U Mobile Intranet Solution
China Unicom Guangdong’s U Mobile Intranet was initially tailored for universities and large institutions. The solution’s Uplink Classifier (ULCL) technology helps people access the intranet anytime and anywhere through mobile terminals, outperforming traditional VPNs in convenience and speed. Meanwhile, data flows do not need to pass through third-party cloud servers, ensuring the security of private data. As a result, U Mobile Intranet has been widely used in 168 universities and colleges, as well as over 300 large enterprises and institutions across Guangdong, and honored by GLOMO’s 5G Industry Challenge Award at MWC 2023 thanks to the benefits it brought to users.
Now, this innovation is extending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and home users, providing them with the secure and convenient solution to manage their private digital asset. Unlike large institutions, SMEs and home users require more than just mobility. For them, simplified configuration and operation are critical to help them efficiently assess office and home intranets without consuming excessive time and effort. By converging mobile and fixed networks, China Unicom Guangdong has achieved this with exceptional cost-effectiveness. Thanks to 5.5G and the application of broadband 50G PON technology, the access rate of U Mobile Intranet now reaches around Gbps, more than 10 times that of 5G.
U Mobile Intranet is a fundamental innovation in the 5.5G era. It not only protects users’ private data, but also offers more convenient, secure, and controllable access to intranet resources. As industry collaboration deepens, U Mobile Intranet is projected to expand from NAS storage, cameras, gaming, and remote desktops to various applications for industries and consumers, which is of great significance to the digital transformation of the whole society.
Accelerating the Large-scale Deployment of 5.5G Networks
This year, the Shenzhen government released an action plan to build Shenzhen as a “pioneer city of ultra-fast broadband” and to promote the digital economy to drive its high-quality development. According to the plan, a new information infrastructure will be built by the end of 2024, with the convergence of 5.5G and advanced technologies such as AI, cloud computing, and digital low altitude.
In line with this plan, China Unicom Guangdong is accelerating the large-scale deployment of its 5.5G networks. So far, several 5.5G demonstration areas have been constructed in Shenzhen Citizen Center, OCT Harbor, the Shenzhen North Railway Station commercial circle, Dongmen Commercial Area, Universiade Stadium, and Gangxia Metro Transit Hub.
Guangdong Unicom adopted the 5.5G solution of “FDD +TDD” 3CC (FDD 2.1 GHz and TDD 3.5GHz carrier aggregation) and super uplink to greatly improve network speeds. The downlink and uplink peak rates of 5.5G verified on the live network show a 5 to 10 times increase compared to 5G. Furthermore, China Unicom Guangdong is also actively promoting the application of broadband 50G PON technology to provide a 10 Gbps experience for home broadband users.