As the 2021 National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) convened, Zhang Yunyong, a CPPCC member and General Manager of the Product Center of China Unicom Group, proposed in his proposal to build a nationwide low-frequency 5G shared access network in rural areas using the 700MHz band, to be shared by the four major telecom operators. Previously, China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network officially launched the 700MHz band co-construction and sharing initiative. If China Unicom and China Telecom also join in this co-construction and sharing, what impact will it have on the inclusive 5G network services in rural areas?
700MHz greatly reduces the cost and difficulty of rural network deployment.
Currently, my country has achieved full 5G network coverage in all prefecture-level cities and above, but county towns and rural areas remain 5G network "blind spots." Recently, the "Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting Rural Revitalization and Accelerating Agricultural and Rural Modernization" issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council clearly pointed out the implementation of a digital rural construction and development project. It calls for promoting the synchronized planning and construction of rural gigabit optical networks, 5G mobile communications, and mobile Internet of Things with urban areas. It also calls for improving the universal telecommunications service compensation mechanism to support the construction of information and communication infrastructure in rural and remote areas.
In an interview with China Electronics News, Zhang Yunyong stated that rural areas have low population density, making it impossible to deploy 5G coverage with the same density of hotspots as urban areas in the short term. Using the current mid-to-high frequency bands for 5G deployment would result in significant network costs and increased construction difficulty. The breadth and depth of coverage offered by low-frequency resources, such as 700MHz, along with the latency advantages of the FDD standard, can greatly reduce network deployment costs and construction difficulty, providing an irreplaceable advantage for building widespread 5G coverage in rural and remote areas.
“To achieve the same coverage effect in typical rural areas, the number of base stations required for 700MHz in a wide-coverage scenario is 1/5 of that for 2.6GHz, 1/6 of that for 3.5GHz, and 1/9 of that for 4.9GHz. If a 5G network with coverage equivalent to the existing 4G network is built, 700MHz can reduce investment in wireless equipment, optical cables, and transmission systems by approximately 190 billion yuan compared to 3.5GHz, and save approximately 20 billion yuan annually in operating costs such as electricity and rental fees,” Zhang Yunyong pointed out.
In recent years, my country has attached great importance to the commercial planning of the 700MHz frequency band. In April 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Adjusting the Frequency Usage Plan of the 700MHz Frequency Band," which reallocated some spectrum resources originally used for broadcasting and television services to mobile communication systems. In July 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Requirements for Radio Frequency Technical Specifications of 5G System Equipment in Mid- and Low-Frequency Bands," ensuring the compatibility and sharing of 5G in the 700MHz band and other frequency bands with other radio services in my country, and standardizing and guiding the research and development of 5G products and the maturity of the industry chain.
Uneven distribution may affect the accessibility of rural public services?
In May 2020, China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network signed a cooperation framework agreement on 5G co-construction and sharing. In January 2021, China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network signed a "5G Strategy" cooperation agreement, officially launching the co-construction and sharing of the 700MHz 5G network.
Regarding this matter, some industry experts have pointed out that the cooperation agreement signed by China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network will put enormous pressure on China Telecom and China Unicom.
According to Zhang Yunyong, countries such as the US, UK, Japan, and South Korea all adopt a balanced average auction allocation method for low-frequency spectrum, including 700MHz, to ensure that basic operators have a balanced share of basic communication resources to provide inclusive communication services. In my country, most of the 700MHz low-frequency resources have been allocated to China Broadcasting Network, and China Broadcasting Network and China Mobile have announced a joint construction and sharing of the 700MHz band. Zhang Yunyong believes that compared to international practices, an uneven allocation will lead to a significant gap in the ability of operators to provide inclusive 5G services in rural areas, exacerbating industry imbalances and being unfair to users covered by the other two operators, especially those in remote rural areas.
This viewpoint sparked widespread discussion within the industry. Some industry experts pointed out that although opening up the 700MHz frequency band for China Telecom and China Unicom to co-build and share is quite difficult, allowing roaming between different networks or through leasing would enable the four major telecom operators to roam on each other's networks in areas where their own network signals are not available. This would be a positive development direction for users, the country, and society.
Independent telecom analyst Ma Jihua, in an interview with China Electronics News, stated that China Mobile's significant investment in building the 700MHz band in partnership with China Broadcasting Network stems from its relatively limited spectrum resources compared to China Unicom and China Telecom, which are located outside the mainstream frequency bands. Building a premium 5G network around the golden 700MHz band will enhance the spectrum resource competitiveness of both China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network. This competitive mechanism ensures operators have sufficient incentive to invest, guaranteeing basic service quality and ensuring universal service.
Further explore the value of low-frequency spectrum
The 700MHz band is currently the only low-frequency band in China that can be used for 5G deployment. Due to its limited capacity and bandwidth, the 700MHz band is suitable for scenarios with low traffic but wide coverage. Besides sparsely populated rural areas, low frequencies can also support 5G applications in relatively remote locations such as factories and farmland.
Peng Honghua, President of Huawei's 5G Product Line, stated that to fully unleash the benefits of the 700MHz golden frequency band, in addition to the inherent advantages of the spectrum itself, continuous innovation is needed in both network performance and service capabilities. First, a priority camping strategy should be implemented around 700MHz to significantly improve the spectrum utilization efficiency. Second, based on uplink SUL + downlink flexible CA, uplink and downlink frequency band decoupling should be achieved to maximize the advantages of 700MHz. Finally, as the foundational network for 5G voice, good coverage of 700MHz is crucial, and the narrow beam function of the broadcast channel should be used to ensure that users can experience 5G VoNR audio and video anytime, anywhere.
Besides 700MHz, the 600MHz and 900MHz bands are also important existing low-frequency spectrum resources, which are of great strategic significance for the development of 5G in digital villages. However, most of these low-frequency bands are still used in 2G networks, with some used in walkie-talkie frequencies, and are unlikely to be cleared in the short term. Looking at global spectrum allocation trends, countries and regions such as the United States and Europe regard low-frequency bands as core public resources for their national 5G strategies and have already begun releasing low-frequency resources such as 600MHz.
In response, Zhang Yunyong suggested that relevant departments explore the feasibility of developing lower-frequency communication for 5G development in digital villages, balancing the spectrum needs of mobile communications and other industries, and providing spectrum resource guarantees for inclusive 5G communication services. He also recommended that 5G low-frequency resource reserves be reserved and deployed as soon as possible, and that a planning scheme maximizing the value of spectrum resources be evaluated from both economic and spectrum efficiency perspectives. Furthermore, he urged the prompt promotion of the supply of 5G low-frequency networks and terminal equipment.
