The information and communication industry is an infrastructure that provides support for the development of the digital economy and has become a strategic, basic and leading industry of the national economy. Next-generation communication networks are an important aspect of next-generation information technology. China has vigorously cultivated new technologies and applications such as next-generation communication networks, and has made continuous efforts in the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G, building a good ecosystem for the development of the digital economy, cultivating rich soil for the emergence of new technologies, new formats and new models, and promoting the acceleration of various economic and social fields from digitalization and networking to intelligence, and entering the ranks of innovative countries. In this issue, invited experts will discuss related issues.
China's communication network has developed by leaps and bounds.
What kind of development process has China's communication network experienced?
Peng Jian (Deputy Director of the Radio Management Research Institute of China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute): After the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's communication network has developed steadily, ensuring the needs of key national communications. During the period of the First Five-Year Plan, the telecommunications department carried out a planned expansion and renovation of the telecommunications network, and initially built a telecommunications network with Beijing as the center and radiating to the major cities of the country. During the "Second Five-Year Plan" period, 1,000 vertical and horizontal automatic switches, 312-type open-line 12-way carriers, 55-type teletypewriters and other telecommunications equipment were developed and put into production, and the communication capacity was greatly improved. By the end of 1977, there were 183 fixed ** users in the country40,000 households, nearly nine times the number in 1949.
After the reform and opening up, the construction of China's communication network has been accelerated. In 1982, China introduced 10,000 program-controlled local telephone exchange systems, and then the construction of program-controlled calls was rapidly implemented throughout the country, and by 1997, all cities above the county level were programmed. Mobile communication network from scratch, China's mobile communication network started in 1987, and 3G was officially commercialized in 2009. The optical fiber network developed rapidly, and in 2000, the "eight vertical and eight horizontal" optical cable backbone network that lasted for 8 years and lasted more than 80,000 kilometers was completed and put into operation. Since 2010, "optical advances and copper retreats" have led the rapid deployment of optical fiber networks.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's communication network has achieved leapfrog development, supporting the construction of a network power and taking solid steps. As of the end of October 2023, the total number of 5G base stations built and opened in China has reached 32150,000, the world's first. The optical fiber network has been upgraded from 100 Gigabit to Gigabit, and the gigabit optical network capacity has covered all prefecture-level cities. By the end of 2022, the total number of terminal connections in China's mobile network has reached 352.8 billion households, and the number of mobile IoT connections reached 184.5 billion households, the foundation of the Internet of Everything has been continuously consolidated. Since 2016, enterprises such as Aerospace Science and Technology, Galaxy Aerospace, and China Star Network have successively put forward plans for the construction of satellite constellations. In 2023, China has successfully completed the launch of satellite Internet technology test satellites for many times, marking the official entry of satellite Internet construction into the implementation stage.
Since China officially launched 5G commercial use in November 2019, basic telecom companies such as China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom have been actively building 5G networks. In terms of coverage, the current 5G network has covered all prefecture-level cities, counties and some towns in China. From Mohe in Heilongjiang to Sansha in Hainan, from the Hongjerab port in Xinjiang at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters to the mines in Shanxi at a depth of more than 200 meters, 5G network signals have been covered. In terms of popularity, as of the end of October 2023, the number of 5G base stations per 10,000 people will reach 2278, 7G mobile** users5.4 billion households, accounting for 43 percent of mobile** users7%, an increase of 10 from the end of the previous year4 percentage points.
In recent years, China's 5G key technologies have made overall breakthroughs, and a relatively complete 5G industrial chain covering chips, terminals, and instruments has been formed. As of October 2023, 5G industry applications have been integrated into 67 major categories of the national economy, with more than 9 application cases40,000. 5G is widely replicated in vertical industries such as industry, mining, electric power, and ports, helping enterprises improve quality, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. At present, the highlights of 5G applications are mainly focused on short, ultra-high-definition, live broadcasting, cloud gaming and other fields. Digital humans and the metaverse are important frontier explorations of 5G in the field of personal applications and consumption.
At present, China's 5G development is in a leading position in the world, with the number of 5G base stations accounting for more than 60% of the world, the number of users ranking first in the world, and the proportion of 5G standard essential patents leading the world. As of the end of October 2023, China's 5G SEP declarations accounted for 42% of the world's total, providing Chinese solutions to promote global 5G development.
5G is a fifth-generation mobile communication technology with high speed, low latency, and low energy consumption. Compared with 4G, its data transmission rate is several times higher, with higher reliability and stability, lower network latency, and lower energy consumption when transmitting data. Driven by technology and demand, next-generation communication networks are evolving in the direction of "high-speed ubiquity, space-ground integration, cloud-network integration, intelligence and agility, green and low-carbon, and security and controllability". Deterministic networks, computing power networks, all-optical networks, 6G, satellite Internet, and network security will be the key research areas of next-generation communication networks. Compared with the existing communication network, the next-generation communication network will be greatly improved in terms of coverage, transmission rate, end-to-end latency, intelligence, network energy efficiency, and security performance.
5G applications provide inclusive and convenient services.
What about 5G applications?What changes have been made to our lives?
Zuo Kairui (Senior Engineer, Institute of Policy and Economics, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology): Since the commercialization of 5G, China has attached great importance to the innovation and development of 5G, and adhered to the principle of "leading the way, the main body of the enterprise, promoting the use of construction, and the key first", and has achieved positive results in network construction, technology industry system construction, and integrated application innovation. The large-scale development of 5G applications is to promote the wider, deeper, and higher-level in-depth integration of 5G applications in the real economy, which will help give full play to the amplification, superposition, and multiplication of digital transformation on economic and social development, and provide a strong development impetus for promoting both quantitative and qualitative economic development.
The scale of network construction is leading in the world. China adheres to the deployment principle of "moderate advancement", steadily promotes the construction of 5G networks, continues to strengthen the breadth and depth of network coverage, optimizes and improves network quality, improves network supply capacity and service levels, and lays a solid foundation for 5G to support the innovation and development of the digital economy. More than 90% of China's 5G base stations have been jointly built and shared, and 5G networks have accelerated their development towards intensive, efficient, green and low-carbon. In May 2023, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Radio and Television launched the world's first 5G cross-network roaming trial commercial use in Xinjiang, marking the further improvement of 5G network service capabilities.
The technology industry system was initially constructed. With the strong support of the industry and the continuous efforts of all sectors of the industry, China's mobile communication industry has achieved leapfrog development, forming systematic advantages in the fields of 5G technical standards, network equipment, and terminal equipment. First, the supply capacity of 5G technology products continues to improve. With the completion of R16, R17 and other standards, all parties in the industry have actively carried out 5G lightweight and other technology tests and demonstrations. Second, 5G intermediate frequency equipment has strong international competitiveness. According to statistics, from 2019 to 2022, Chinese enterprises accounted for nearly half of the global 5G network infrastructure market. Facing the customized and personalized needs of the industry, equipment manufacturers actively carry out the research and development of customized network products, such as 5G flameproof base stations in the mining industry and 5G nomadic base stations in emergency scenarios. Third, the 5G terminal equipment market has developed steadily. From January to October 2023, China's 5G mobile phone shipments will reach 18.8 billion units, a year-on-year increase of 89%。As of October 2023, a total of 608 5G non-mobile terminals have been listed in China.
The effect of convergence application empowerment is remarkable. Application scenarios are constantly being innovated and user experience has been greatly improved. For example, during the Hangzhou Asian Games, China Mobile launched a business shorthand service in 5G new calls, which supports converting the voice content of both parties into text records during the call, and embeds large model functions into the text recording process to provide intelligent services such as collating and summarizing. Industry applications have been promoted in depth, and large-scale replication has been achieved in key industries such as manufacturing, mining, medical, energy, and ports, such as 5G+ quality inspection, remote operation and maintenance, multi-machine collaborative operation, and visual intelligent security in the manufacturing field.
The application of 5G in industries such as healthcare, education, and health care provides residents with an inclusive and convenient service experience. First, 5G will open a new era of smart healthcare, improve the efficiency of medical services and the level of diagnosis and treatment, and promote the rapid development of smart healthcare. The 5G network breaks geographical restrictions and provides patients with medical services such as remote consultation, remote surgery, and emergency treatment, promoting the efficient sinking of high-quality medical resources and improving the quality of diagnosis and treatment. Second, 5G will promote the transformation of teaching models and promote the transformation and upgrading of education digital intelligence. Through the 5G network, cross-regional remote interactive teaching is realized, and AR VR technology is combined to create an immersive teaching experience, enhance teaching entertainment, and improve teaching quality. Third, 5G promotes the development of the smart health care industry and optimizes the efficiency of elderly care services. The application of 5G in daily life, safety and security, health care and other aspects is gradually enriched, providing efficient and intelligent services for the elderly, such as 5G wearable health monitoring devices can monitor the health status, behavioral ability, vital signs of the elderly in real time, and provide emergency calls, health assessments and other services.
In addition, 5G accelerates the digital transformation of the tourism industry, improves the level of intelligence in service, supervision, operation and other links, provides tourists with a convenient and immersive tour experience, and expands new space for the development of cultural tourism. 5G combines technologies such as 4K 8K and AR VR to innovate the expression form and content of cultural and tourism products, giving birth to new scenarios such as cloud tourism and cloud live streaming. Promote the diversified development of financial development, innovate product content and communication forms, and provide strong support and guarantee for ultra-clear, high-definition live broadcast, automatic translation and dubbing and other businesses. For example, during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, 5G+8K was used for high-definition live broadcast at various important nodes such as the Asian Games flame collection, medal release, and the opening of the Asian Games Village, so that people everywhere could deeply feel the atmosphere of the Asian Games.
Actively respond to new challenges in communication network security.
How to deal with the challenges of communication network security?
Liu Xiulong (Professor, Department of Intelligent Computing, Tianjin University, Deputy Secretary-General of the Network and Data Communication Committee of China Computer Federation): China's network security industry is showing steady growth and positive development, and the market size is expected to exceed 80 billion yuan by 2025. In the context of the global economic downturn, due to the favorable policy support, China's cybersecurity enterprises have actively responded to market challenges and continuously increased R&D investment. New technologies, new applications, and new services are constantly emerging, especially the development of the digital economy, which provides a new track for the cybersecurity industry.
China attaches great importance to cyber security and has introduced a series of policies to promote the standardized development of the cyber security industry. At the end of 2022, the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued the "20 Data Articles" to build and improve the data element market system and mechanism from the aspects of data property rights, transaction circulation, income distribution, and security governance. With the promulgation and implementation of relevant laws and regulations such as the Cybersecurity Law and Personal Information Protection, China's legal protection system for network and data security has been basically completed. The implementation of cybersecurity-related policies, regulations and standards, as well as the improvement of the cybersecurity governance system, have promoted the growth of the number of related enterprises and the expansion of market demand.
In recent years, with the rapid development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, cybersecurity is facing new challenges, such as intensified cyber attacks and data leakage. To maintain network information security, it is necessary to continuously strengthen technology research and development and regulatory capabilities to cope with the security challenges brought by new technologies. China has made some progress in this regard, and the Interim Measures for the Management of Generative AI Services issued in July 2023 provide standardized requirements from multiple aspects such as technology development and governance, service specifications, supervision and inspection, and legal liability, and build a framework for the application and governance of generative AI. The implementation of these measures will help ensure China's network security and promote the healthy and orderly development of new technologies.
Ensuring the security of network communication equipment is a key part of maintaining overall network security. Communications companies such as Huawei and ZTE have implemented comprehensive security measures to ensure the security of their communications equipment throughout the design, development, and maintenance of its communications equipment. At the same time, as user enterprises pay more and more attention to the effectiveness, sustainability and systematization of network security services, industry leaders are transforming into "product + service" integrated solution providers, providing end-to-end integrated network security solutions.
Communications companies share practical experience in data protection and privacy protection governance with the industry through the release of security *** and other means. To ensure the credibility and compliance of our products, Huawei has developed an enterprise security and privacy framework based on globally representative laws, regulations, and standards, including China's Personal Information Protection Regulation and the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation. ZTE regards security as a core priority in its product development and delivery, and has established a comprehensive product security governance system. The system covers the standardized operation from the security of the first chain, the safety design of R&D to the standardization of engineering services to ensure the safe and reliable delivery of products and services.
With the continuous development of the wave of informatization characterized by digitalization, networking and intelligence, information technology is rapidly penetrating into all aspects of human society. The development of next-generation communication networks not only promotes the cross-integration of information technology with technologies in other fields, but also drives the high-quality development of upstream and downstream industries such as chip manufacturing and data services, and profoundly affects the world pattern from multiple dimensions such as economy, culture, technology, and security.
With the popularization of terminal wireless communication technology, the rapid development and application of 5G and 6G, and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, the concept of the Internet has realized the evolution from the traditional "computer network" to the "Internet of Everything" and then to the "Intelligent Connection of Everything". However, in the context of the integrated network layout of air, ground, ground and sea, the accelerated construction of the data element market, and the green "dual carbon" environment, the Internet communication architecture as an "information superhighway" is faced with challenges such as limited network equipment resources, difficult to sink complex AI computing, low perceptual data value density, high transmission pressure on backbone networks, frequent large-scale malicious attacks, and difficult to ensure system security and privacy. To this end, it is necessary to continue to invest in basic theory, communication architecture, and system reconstruction, and make breakthroughs to form a large-capacity, low-latency, high-reliability, energy-efficient, intelligent, and ubiquitous next-generation communication network innovation technology system, so as to provide strong support for important scenarios and applications such as the metaverse and the data element market.