Report: China releases 5G licences for commercial use

On the afternoon of August 25, at the Guqiao Mine of Huaihe Energy Coal Company, the staff used the mobile 5G SA network to have the first high-definition voice call and the first video call in the underground coal mine with the ground personnel.

This is in response to the central government’s call to build "new infrastructure" projects to counter the economic fallout due to the coronavirus and boost the country's economy in the long term. New infrastructure, different from traditional infrastructure construction such as railways, roads, and airports, can be understood as new public facilities serving the needs of new industrialisation. 

The Guangdong Communications Administration said on Monday that Guangdong has added nearly 200 5G base stations during the coronavirus outbreak

In 2019, China launched commercial 5G services and commissioned 126,000 5G base stations

Upgrading and construction of 5G base stations will require much more power supply

An EV consumes about 55 kg of copper on average, two to three times of that for traditional diesel or gasoline vehicles

By the end of June, the city has some 5,000 5G base stations in operation

Stocks of 5G-related companies jumped after the news release on the website of MIIT

It will drive digital economic output by 15.2 trillion yuan