5G is the next major phase of mobile telecommunications and follows the global adoption of the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard since 2012. A new report from China states that the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has started research and testing of the 5G technology.
The report said that China is aiming to commercialize 5G by 2020. “The purpose of the research and test is to support the formulation of global 5G standards and boost the development of the telecom industry,” said Cao Shumin, head of a 5G R&D team under the MIIT. It is expected that by 2018, China will finish the research and test work and domestic telecom service providers will try to commercialize the 5G technology in the following two years.
MIIT chief engineer Zhang Feng said that “China has made progress in the research of some key areas regarding 5G technology”. Currently, China has more than 905 million mobile Internet users and about 380 million are 4G users. Check out our detailed piece on 5G here.