Chinese residents are enjoying a telecoms boost as the country's 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network becomes more widely integrated into daily life and across several industries, offering faster connectivity and immersive interaction experiences, which many see as a catalyst for the next industrial revolution.
The latest generation is 5G-A, which stands for 5G-Advanced. It is also known as 5.5G by some manufacturers and represents an enhancement over 5G and the step toward 6G connection. It offers significant improvements in capacity, speed, latency, and positioning and is up to 10 times faster than 5G in terms of internet speed.
One of the most obvious benefits of 5G-A will be significantly increased data speeds. While maximum 5G download rates are around 1 gigabyte per second, 5G-A can be up to 10 times faster, helping support demanding applications like extended reality (XR) and naked-eye 3D that produces holographic imagery.
Upload speeds will also jump significantly, enabling capabilities like mass cloud data transfer and allowing the once futuristic notion of holographic communication to become a reality.
Insiders say the impact will be profound across multiple sectors of society, including in key areas like healthcare.
"Based on faster connections, 5G-A enables immersive interaction. It can be applied to extended reality (XR), holographic communication, and cloud gaming and other scenarios offering immersive experiences to users. It will support vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks to operate with millisecond-level latency, significantly improving real-time traffic feedback. 5G-A can also help significantly improve response speeds in public services, such as emergency communications and remote healthcare," said Xu Chang, deputy general manager of the communication industry research center for the Beijing-based CCID Consulting firm.
The 5G-A network will also enable seamless connectivity across all scenarios with support for billions of connected devices, ranging from ultra-high-speed industrial equipment to massive deployments of small, passive Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. It will allow latency, or the time lag, to drop to the single millisecond level while the positioning accuracy can be sharply improved from several meters down to mere centimeters.
In addition to the benefits brought to public users, 5G-A is delivering a new wave of transformation for traditional industries. Its massive connectivity and ultra-low latency capabilities enable intelligent automation, more efficient device coordination, and real-time data sharing across supply chains. This will ensure enhanced productivity, lower operational costs, and improve the overall efficiency of the supply chain.
"With the integration of communication, sensing, computing, and intelligence, 5G-A is evolving from a communications tool into a powerful productivity engine, empowering countless industries and reshaping various sectors. Its superior network performance provides robust infrastructure support for future industries such as artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces by enhancing data transmission and processing capabilities while boosting computing power and storage capacity," said Xu.
Meanwhile, China's major telecommunication operators are moving rapidly toward the commercial deployment of the 5G-A network.
According to industry experts, China's telecommunication operators have already deployed 5G-A test networks across all 31 provinces and regions, with an initial capacity to support 50 million users. The technology has also been verified in other global regions, such as Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Telecoms firm China Mobile says it plans to invest nearly 10 billion yuan (about $1.4 billion) this year to expand AI-based applications in its 5G-A wireless network and upgrade over 400,000 base stations.
Other providers like China Telecom are piloting 5G-A solutions across multiple industries. Meanwhile, China Unicom aims to activate 5G-A in 39 key cities and across more than 300 urban application zones, covering key scenarios, including the Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Vehicles (IoV), and the industrial internet.
Currently, China Mobile has announced 100 pilot cities that are supporting 5G-A networks, with plans to expand its coverage to over 300 cities nationwide by the end of this year.
In Beijing alone, thousands of 5G-A base stations have already been established.
"Over 7,000 5G-A base stations have been launched in Beijing, providing widespread coverage within the sixth ring road and key areas," said Wang Juan, manager of a China Mobile store in Beijing's Shijingshan District.
According to staff from China's major telecommunication operators, most mainstream smartphone models on the market are already compatible with 5G-A networks, allowing users to enjoy faster speeds without incurring additional charges.
