5G subscriber count reaches 9 million in China
About 9 million people have subscribed to 5G services in China, while mobile carriers have offered discounted prices and added 5G base stations since the 5G licenses were issued in June.
By October 5, more than 5.32 million people have subscribed to China Mobile’s 5G services, followed by 1.75 million subscribers for China Unicom and 1.76 million subscribers for China Telecom.
The carriers haven’t officially kicked off 5G services in the local market, and 5G coverage is limited. But carriers are expected to launch the services this month, industry insiders said.
Smartphone vendors such as Huawei, Vivo, Xiaomi, ZTE and Samsung have already launched 5G models in China. Carriers have offered bundled packages with discounted prices for 5G smartphones.
In Shanghai, 5G signals are available in spots like People’s Square, Nanjing Road, Zhangjiang and Hongqiao Railway Station.
By the end of 2019, 10,000 5G base stations will cover the whole of downtown Shanghai. The city will spend 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) to build 30,000 5G base stations by 2021, offering full 5G coverage, local officials said.
For Shanghai’s 5G smartphone users, carriers now offer 100 Gigabyte free data packages each month. But they will charge users when full-coverage is available.