A clear vision of the athlete’s name on the yellow card in the referee’s hand, a 720 degree panorama displaying live information of the Lujiazui finance zone, broadcast of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for billions of viewers around the world and a high definition visual experience… At the Mobile World Congress Shanghai, held on June 27 at Shanghai New International Expo Center, the 5th generation network technology has been put into practical use and on the agenda to be applied soon. The characteristics of the 5th generation technology of high speed, large capacity and short delay will bring about a totally different digital life experience.

The latest technologies such as mobile HD video, AR/VR heavy-flow applications, auto piloting, telemedicine and intelligent transportation all demand a stronger network technology for support. The 5th generation will offer the basis for all these new inventions with its combination of AI, big data and cloud computing. As for now, the 5th generation has passed the first phase of standardization of functions and is rushing into the phase of commercialapplication. To give an example of what the 5th generation is capable of, it is estimated that one can download 7 HD Harry Porter movies in just one second with 5th generation network. No doubt this represents a quantum leap over current capabilities.

As the regional innovation lab of China Mobile, Shanghai Mobile has created a small scale simulating network that supports 5th generation technology. In this exhibition, China Mobile displays media products that feature a definition rate of 4K+HDR and a playing speed of 50 frames per seconds. With this technique viewers can see clearly the names on a referee’s yellow card.

China Telecom exhibits the stunning 8K video technology which enables video to reach a resolution of 7680x4320 pixels and a transfer rate of 140 Mbps, pointing to the company’s capability of offering ultra high definition videos. In addition, the 720 degree panorama camera is connected to the exhibition center with 5th generation technology so that viewers can see the live scenes of Lujiazui as never before.

China Unicom has successively conducted experiments of 5th generation technology in 16 cities and is planning to put it into trial in 2019 and formal commercial use in 2020. As the telecommunication service partner of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China Unicom will use the 5th generation technology to broadcast to the world’s audience in unprecedented quality giving the audience never before experienced presence.