5G enables thousands of industries, deepening transformation calls for cross-domain collaboration

According to the "Economic Operation of the Communications Industry in the First Quarter of 2021" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by the end of March this year, my country's three major telecom operators have built a total of 819,000 5G base stations, and the number of 5G mobile phone terminal users has reached 285 million. , Accounting for 17.8% of the total number of mobile phone users. The application of 5G has strongly promoted the use of mobile data traffic by Chinese consumers. Mobile Internet traffic is growing rapidly. In March 2021, the average mobile Internet access traffic per household reached 12.74GB, a record high.

Not only has the personal user market grown rapidly, my country's 5G industry applications have also achieved a global lead. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by the end of 2020, the number of “5G+Industrial Internet” projects nationwide has exceeded 1,100. Industrial Internet applications cover more than 30 key industries such as raw materials, equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, energy, and medical care. The total number of 5G base stations applied to the Industrial Internet exceeds 3.2. Ten thousand seats.

After nearly two years of unremitting efforts, my country's mobile communications industry has carried out large-scale trials of 5G industry applications in some typical industries, and the number of 5G base stations in some pilot projects has reached triple digits. Through such a large-scale application pilot, telecommunications companies and related industry users have jointly built the technical capabilities required for 5G industry applications, and have explored a certain amount of commercial experience, laying a solid foundation for further large-scale promotion.

5G assists the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and responds to the ebb of "demographic dividend"

Through the preliminary large-scale application pilots, it can be found that the application of 5G industry is gradually converging to focus on some key industries, including coal mines, steel, manufacturing, ports, medical care, and electric power. For example, Hunan Xiangtan Iron and Steel Group started its 5G smart steel plant project in July 2019. Through cooperation with China Mobile, it has deployed 5G+MEC technology to build a fully connected wireless network in the production park. As of December 2020, about 200 5G base stations have been deployed in the Valin Xiangshan Steel Plant, completing the full coverage of the 5G private network within the plant, realizing 5G remote control cranes, 5G unmanned cranes, 5G slagging robots, and 5G+ AR assisted assembly and other technical applications. The application of 5G industry has promoted the improvement of Xianggang's automation, informatization, and digitization level, driving its overall production efficiency to increase by 30%, and achieving annual direct economic benefits of hundreds of millions of yuan.

In another example, Shanxi Yangmei Group Xinyuan Coal Mine cooperated with China Mobile to build the 5G dedicated network for coal mines with the lowest underground 5G network at 534 meters underground, which has realized the intelligent management of coal mines. Intelligent construction has enabled Xinyuan Coal Mine to reduce more than 300 underground operators of various types, and realize the simultaneous improvement of safety production and efficiency. And Ningbo Zhoushan Port is deploying a 5G smart port

After the application of the mouth, 5G has brought about earth-shaking changes in the operation mode of the gantry crane. The driver has remote control from the 20-meter-high control room to the air-conditioned office, realizing the improvement and upgrading of the working environment from the "sauna" to the "air-conditioned room", and the efficiency of loading and unloading. Increased by 20%, the overall labor cost has been reduced by more than 50%, and at the same time, the unmanned level of the port has been greatly improved to achieve higher security.

Summarizing the development laws of applications in these industries, we can find that the traditional industries with high proportion of fixed assets such as steel, mining, and ports, low operating profit margins, high labor intensity and harsh labor environment, have stronger demand for 5G industry applications. Deployment The benefits of 5G industry applications are also more significant. As my country’s “demographic dividend” gradually ebbs, these traditional industries will have an increasing demand for industrial automation solutions. Their traditional “human-centered” production and operation model is expected to be transformed into data-centric and automated equipment As a new model of means, 5G will play an indispensable role in it, accelerating the digital transformation of these traditional industries.

5G drives information construction and promotes social production efficiency

In addition to enabling the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the large-scale deployment and commercial promotion of 5G have also made the concept of industry informatization deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, promoting the informatization construction and upgrading of thousands of industries, and the popularization and application of 5G and new information technologies Promoting the improvement of production efficiency in various industries, forming a positive cycle.

For example, the Guangdong Industrial Design City in Shunde, Guangdong is the "National Industrial Design Demonstration Base". The core area of ​​the park is 70,000 square meters. There are more than 300 companies and more than 8,000 designers and developers in the park, forming an end-to-end industry. Design the service chain. Under the background of the continuous popularization of 5G industry applications, the park operators realized that the outdated information management system has affected the services to the enterprises in the park and restricted business growth. Therefore, in cooperation with China Telecom, the 5G smart park project was launched. The project uses China Telecom's 5G, NB-IoT and other connection technologies, as well as China Telecom's public cloud services and edge computing.

The platform provides a unified software and application ecology for park operators and enterprises in the park. The project can not only greatly improve the overall operational efficiency of the park, but also help enterprises in the park to improve production and operation efficiency by relying on the integrated cloud platform and characteristic SaaS applications. For example, a high-performance cloud computing platform can shorten the image rendering time from 300 minutes to 5 minutes, while cloud workstations can reduce the company's electricity costs by 70%.

It can be seen that the informatization construction and upgrading driven by 5G can effectively improve the production and operation efficiency of various industries, and is expected to play an important role in promoting the long-term and healthy development of the national economy.

Cross-domain collaboration helps 5G industry applications set sail

At present, regardless of the number of projects, scale, and social and economic benefits, China's 5G industry applications deserve the lead in the global market. By summarizing the development experience of these application pilots, we can find that extensive cross-field collaboration is of great significance to promoting the digital transformation of the industry.

The digital transformation of the industry not only has diversified requirements for connection infrastructure and cloud-network integration strategies, but also puts forward higher requirements for the in-depth integration of information and communication technologies and industry-specific operating technologies. Information and communication companies can acquire the corresponding operating experience and expertise through internal accumulation or external cooperation, and gradually transform into a comprehensive ICT service provider. This will help information and communication companies design and deploy effective industry solutions and serve the long-term digital transformation of the industry.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "5G Application "Sailing" Action Plan (2021-2023)" (draft for comments), which pointed out the direction and formulated a plan for further promoting the development of 5G applications. In terms of 5G industry applications, the "Yangfan Plan" specifically proposes to "accelerate the development of cross-field integration and innovation", to "do a good job of technological'combination'", and "create a batch of application solution providers who understand both 5G and the industry." .

It can be seen that the promotion of digital transformation of the industry through cross-domain collaboration has gained broad consensus between the industry and policy makers. With the gradual implementation of top-level designs such as the "Sailing Plan", we look forward to further deepening the cross-field collaboration between the information and communication industry and various industries in society, thereby promoting the commercial landing of 5G industry applications and helping the industry to set sail for digital transformation.

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