Shenzhen is trying to become a global benchmark city in the construction and application of the 5G network, a meeting of the city government said yesterday.
To achieve this goal, the city will complete construction of 15,000 base stations before the end of the year. By August 2020, at the turn of the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, the number will increase to 45,000.
The 5G network will cover 10 major areas, including transportation, policing, urban administration, power supply, water resources, health care, education, tourism, public safety and ports.
At a ceremony yesterday, the city signed an MOU with three telecommunications operators to develop an all-round partnership in 5G construction. The operators will support the city to build benchmark 5G projects in industrial Internet, intelligent Internet-connected cars, AR/VR, remote medical treatment, intelligent public safety, smart factories, ports and industrial parks.
“To become a leading and benchmark city, Shenzhen will focus on innovation in core technologies, such as medium- and high-frequency 5G devices, and help solve difficulties for key enterprises and operators, in addition to setting up base stations,” Jia Xingdong, head of Shenzhen Industry and Information Technology Bureau, said at the meeting.
To help solve the difficulties of enterprises, like the choice of sites, high maintenance costs and the installation of power facilities, the city will grant subsidies for electricity usage, open resources at public venues and offer preferential policies regarding electricity facility installations.
Properties and projects owned and invested by the city government will not charge rental fees for the construction of 5G base stations. The residential buildings, communities and industrial parks will be preferential sites for 5G stations.
The city will build a world-class aggregation area for 5G industries with emphasis on the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Scientific Innovation Cooperation Zone, Jiulongshan Science and Technology Park in Longhua, Baolong Science and Technology City in Longgang, Shenshan Bay Robotics Town in Shenshan Cooperation Zone, and Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Cooperation Zone.
The city will try to forge two 5G industrial clusters, each with an expected annual output volume of more than 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion), by 2022, Jia said.