BIZMETROPOLITAN
B8 Wednesday August 21, 2019
By Lin Luwen and Yin Lu in Shen-
zhen and ChengduH
as the 5G gen-
eration arrived?
Whether Huawei
started the
commercial 5G
network era or
not, there are still lingering ques-
tions about this next generation of
mobile internet.
The Huawei Mate 20X (5G),
which was developed by Chinese
telecommunications giant Huawei,
officially hit stores on Friday and
marks itself one step closer to the
nationwide commercialization of a
5G network.
Equipped with Huawei’s self-
developed Balong 5000 chipset, it is
the only mobile phone in the world
that supports both SA and NSA
networks. Huawei Mate 20X (5G)
has received more than 1 million
preorders.
However, without a 5G network,
5G phones are nothing special under
a 4G network. The Global Times
reporters flew to two 5G experimen-
tal cities, Shenzhen, South China’s
Guangdong Province and Chengdu,
Southwest China’s Sichuan Province
to find out everything you need to
know about 5G and Huawei.
The maximum speed of 5G is 10
to 20 times faster than that of 4G.
Under the speed test app, and using
a Huawei Mate 20X (5G) on a 5G
network, the phone showed that it
can download at 1,090 Mbps and
upload at 243 Mbps. The latency has
dropped to under 200 milliseconds,
which means people will not feel the
latency, make clear video calls with-
out delays, and download a movie in
seconds.
Wide bandwidth, ultra-low laten-
cy, and wide coverage are the main
characteristics of 5G. “3A (AAA-level
quality digital art) video games,
unmanned driving and industrial
management are the main fields in
which 5G can bring revolutionary
changes,” Zhao Zhiping, Huawei’s
5G chief marketing officer said.More than speed
“The upload speed is as fast as
the hardware, such as SD Card. It’s
incredible,” a 22-year-old sophomoresurnamed He said. He is now study-
ing at Beijing University of Posts
and Telecommunications. As a tech-
nical products test vlogger on social
media, his videos about 5G smart-
phones went viral on the internet.
However, 5G doesn’t only offer
faster speeds, but also enables
massive connections. In the 4G era,
people could only watch videos, but
when it comes to 5G, they have ac-
cess to AR (augmented reality) and
VR (virtual reality) tech gadgets.
“5G starts an era of AR and VR
which used to just be a concept in
the 4G era,” Zhao said.
From phones to pandas, Huawei
is also creating a 5G network to
safely run a hyperconnected world
beyond just your mobile phone.
The virtual reality technology is now
welcoming visitors to the Chengdu
Giant Breeding Base.
An 8K livestream of a giant
Panda backed by a 5G network in the
breeding base has fascinated tourists
and brings a new way to watch the
panda. As soon as the visitor moves,
the video insight in the spectacles
follows the panda’s direction using
moving headsets.Commuting with 5G
The 5G network is going to ac-
company the daily commuters in
Chengdu.
A 5G tour bus is currently on trial
in Chengdu on the 2nd ring road
which is about a 30-kilometer drive
and is fully covered by the largest
standalone 5G network.
“On the 5G bus, the moving 5G
speed is still faster and stable which
means the passengers are able to
live-stream 4K and 8K videos and
even play cloud 3A video games,”
He said.
A 5G network seems to bring a
revolutionary change to the gaming
industry, too.
“Games can be played on the
cloud, which means there is no need
to upgrade anymore and people
can play the games that previously
required an extremely high-level of
heat dissipation in the system,” He
said.Remote healthcare
Backed by its advanced charac-
teristics, 5G benefits the healthcareindustry, as well.
Recently, 5G technology is perme-
ating through the medical field and
is shedding a light on remote health
care.
The 5G technologies have as-
sisted in a successful earthquake
medical rescue on June 20 to rescue
the people injured at Sichuan Pro-
vincial People’s Hospital. This was
the world’s first case of applying 5G
technologies in a natural disaster
medical rescue.
Meanwhile, at Chengdu’s No.3
People’s Hospital, its 5G network
permits doctors to carry out an ul-
trasound test on patients in anothercity millions of kilometers away. For
instance, 5G is essentially power-
ing a robotic arm that can track the
doctor’s hand movements when they
are operating a probe device and
they say that the diagnosis is as accu-
rate as doing it in person.
“5G real-time remote video
consultation is available now, which
solves the problem of the shortage
of ultrasound doctors,” Zhou Yang,
deputy chief ultrasound physician
at Chengdu No.3 People’s Hospital
said.
He told the Global Times that in
the past, 4G speeds were not fast
enough for such procedures. Now
with 5G, the reaction speed is within
a few milliseconds and the diagnosis
is precise.
“The 5G network avoids buffer-
ing, shaking or vagueness during
remote exams. And various fields
are being explored in more than 30
cities across China,” Zhou said.
“To change lives and societies,
it will fundamentally support every
aspect of our life. For those coun-
tries who embrace 5G, they could
end up being leagues ahead. More
so than countries who do not,” Josh,
a 34-year-old media worker said.Rolling out
a new era
A doctor
performs an
ultrasound
test on a
patient using
a 5G-powered
robotic arm.5G buses take
trial runs in
the Jinsha Bus
Hub Station
in Chengdu,
Southwest
China’s
Sichuan
Province.Visitors can
watch 4K
livestreams
by using
5G phones
with ultra
low latency.
Photos: Lin
Luwen/GT GT reporters visit two of China’s
5G experimental cities
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