China’s 5G Base Station Count Keeps Growing
China’s progress in expanding its 5G infrastructure is making waves globally, with China Mobile leading the charge with around 2.4 million 5G base stations. This impressive number accounts for one-third of the total global count, closely followed by China Unicom with 2.2 million stations, as reported by C114.net.
During the China 5G Development Conference, China Mobile’s VP Zhang Dong highlighted that they have achieved a remarkable population coverage of 96 percent, reaching even remote administrative villages, with 90 percent coverage in place.
On the other hand, China Unicom’s deputy GM Hao Liqian shared that their 5G network consists of 1.4 million stations operating in the 3.4GHz band, in partnership with China Telecom, and 800,000 low-band sites at 800MHz. Additionally, China Unicom provides 5G private networks to over 15,000 customers and has rolled out 5G-Advanced services across more than 100 cities.
As the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, China Mobile collaborates with China Broadnet, using the 2.6GHz spectrum. China Broadnet, which commenced services in 2022, closed June with 25.2 million 5G subscribers. China Mobile’s own deployment of 351,000 5G base stations in the first half of the year brought its total count to 2.3 million as of the end of June.
According to data from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the total number of 5G base stations deployed by operators by the end of 2023 stood at an impressive 3.4 million.
However, China Telecom did not reveal its base station numbers in the Q3 earnings report.
In conclusion, China is making significant strides in the 5G arena, with China Mobile and China Unicom leading the way in the race to expand and enhance the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.
