China Unicom proposes shared 5G ecosystem at MWC

China Unicom called for more efforts to foster a 5G community featuring joint contributions and shared value, declaring it aims to work with all partners in nurturing a multi-win 5G ecosystem to unleash the potential of the digital economy.

Liu Liehong, chairman of China Unicom, said in a speech via video at the ongoing Mobile World Congress 2023, in Barcelona, Spain that "5G development should not be a 'solo', but rather a 'symphony'".

"China Unicom will leverage its balancing role to drive the growth of the communications technology industry on the one side, while on the other side boosting the development of smart devices, content and applications, connecting upstream and downstream players to create and share value together," Liu said at the China Unicom 5G Innovation Summit held at the sidelines of MWC 2023.

The remarks came after China Unicom has made "exciting breakthroughs" in 5G since the commercial launch of the wireless technology.

China Unicom's network quality is steadily improving, with 1.17 million 5G base stations covered in all towns accounting for 30 percent of the world's total, Liu said, adding 5G applications are being enriched as 62.5 percent of its mobile users subscribe to 5G packages and over 18,000 5G-powered industry projects.

China Unicom's 5G ecosystem continues to grow, with its 5G Application Innovation Alliance now having over 3,000 members.

According to Liu, China Unicom has implemented a new corporate strategy and identified "big connectivity, big computing, big data, big application, and big security" as its five main business focal points, transforming the company's role from a traditional telecom service provider to serving the digital economy.

As the focus of 5G networks shifts from "Go Big" to "Go Quality", and 5G applications move from "stand-alone cases" to a "diversified portfolio", 5G innovation requires more synergy and collaboration, Liu said.

To accelerate the development of 5G in this context, efforts should be doubled in developing business-to-consumer and business-to-home applications, the senior executive said.

"With nationwide 5G networks in place, we hope the general public can really enjoy the technology, and the potential of 5G networks further released."

The company will actively develop business-to-business and business-to-government applications.

"We stand ready to work closely with different verticals to explore new scenarios in connecting humans, machines and everything. We will further adapt our networks, terminals and modules to the demands of different sectors," Liu said.

By dealing with common challenges such as standardization, costs and business models, Liu said, the company hopes to be more deeply involved in the core process of manufacturing to enable the commercialization of 5G applications at a larger scale.

"China Unicom is ready to join with all partners to foster an innovation chain, develop an industrial chain and share a value chain in 5G, so the technology can truly deliver social change."