Shenzhen planning to deploy 30,000 5G base stations by the end of 2020
China’s Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport is fully covered by 5G technology, Chinese news service Xinhua reported.
Since the beginning of 2020, the airport has accelerated the construction of a 5G network by building 41 outdoor base stations, with signals that can cover all places including terminals, the flight area and the freight transport area.
The report stated that the speed of the 5G network deployed at the airport is more than 15 times faster than the current 4G network, according to initial tests.
Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport is a major airport in south China with air routes to 180 international and domestic destinations. Last year, it handled more than 52.93 million passenger trips.
The municipal government of China’s Shenzhen city plans to deploy a total of 30,000 new 5G base stations during 2020, Chinese press reported.
According to local municipal authorities, this deployment will allow Chinese carriers to provide full 5G coverage across Shenzhen.
As of the end of last year, Shenzhen had a total of 15,500 5G base stations, which enabled carriers to provide the technology in key areas across the city, according to the Shenzhen Industrial and Information Technology Bureau.
Shenzhen, a southern tech hub in Guangdong Province, is one of the first pilot cities of the 5G network in China. The city, with more than 12.5 million residents, is home to telecoms giant Huawei Technologies and other Chinese tech companies including ZTE and Tencent Holdings.
In related news, China Telecom has started to install micro 5G base stations at public phone booths in Shanghai, Xinhua reported.
More than 10 public phone booths in downtown Shanghai have been repurposed for small and micro 5G base stations to support the city’s 5G network.
Zhang Jun, from the Shanghai branch of China Telecom said the installation of small and micro 5G base stations in the public phone booths can help cover the blind spots of outdoor 5G networks.
Although the appearance of these booths remains unchanged, the inside space at the top of the booths has been equipped with new facilities, and the cooling system of the booths has been upgraded.
China Telecom plans to upgrade over 100 of these phone booths by the end of 2020.
According to data released by the Shanghai Economic and Information Commission in January this year, Shanghai has built more than 16,000 5G base stations and 13,000 small 5G indoor stations, to achieve full coverage of 5G networks in central urban areas and key suburban areas. Shanghai has become one of the largest 5G networks in China and the world. At the same time, Shanghai has started and implemented nearly 300 5G application projects in the fields of intelligent manufacturing, intelligent transportation, and intelligent medical care.