New investment platform set to drive 5G commercialization

GSMA, a global association of mobile operators, announced on Tuesday the establishment of a 5G investment platform in China to drive commercialization of the superfast technology, as a consortium of countries has kicked off the 5G era this year.

The platform which claims to be the world's first of this kind, attracted the first batch of 12 members in the field, including the investment bodies of China's three major telecommunications operators.

Tech giant Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE, as well as leading investment firms, including China Broadband Capital and consultancy Deloitte China, are also among those on the list.

Sihan Bo Chen, head of GSMA Greater China, noted that the innovative move aims to join forces and link companies with capital to drive 5G applications with the coming of 5G commercialization.

"Through building such a globalized platform, we also hope to promote more companies to go abroad and attract foreign capital to enter China. More forces will be gathered in the global communications ecosystem to jointly promote technological innovation," she said.

According to a GSMA report, the number of 5G users in China is expected to reach 400 million by 2025, accounting for about one-third of the world's total.

The country's telecom carriers are expected to spend 900 billion yuan ($126 billion) to 1.5 trillion yuan on 5G network construction from 2020 to 2025, said a report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.