Top telecom operators lend full support to Xiongan New Area

Children are seen on a motor bike on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the Xiongan New Area, Hebei province, April 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Three telecom operators have vowed their full support for the Xiongan New Area, which could become China's first region to test out a large-scale commercial 5G network, Shanghai Securities News reported.

China Unicom said the company will make serving the Xiongan New Area a priority, and establish a special working team to plan and promote related work.

China Telecom said it would establish a gigabit optical network in the new area, fully covering e-Surfing 4G and Narrow Band Internet of Things, or NB-IoT. The company also plans to build a 5G trial network in advance, as well as cloud–network integration layout.

China Mobile also said it plans to build a 5G mobile communication network in the area, ensuring all-optical high-speed broadband infrastructure could be completed in one step.

China Mobile said the company fully supports turning the Xiongan New Area into a green smart city and innovation development pilot region. It will speed up the digitization service layout and promote the development of Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, e-government and e-Commerce.

Three telecom operators are all paying close attention to the Xiongan New Area to ensure that a gigabit optical network could be established in one move, Fu Liang, an independent TMT (Technology, Media, Telecom) analyst told the newspaper.

"It's possible that Xiongan could become China's first region to try out large-scale commercial application of 5G network," Fu added.

China announced plans to create Xiongan New Area on April 1, which authorities described as a "major historic and strategic choice… crucial for the millennium to come."

The new area, about 100 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing, is designed to advance coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and cure "urban ills" such as traffic congestion and air pollution in the capital.