The success of enterprise 5G requires a combination of good government policies, a mature value chain and a broad ecosystem, according to Sun Yun, Deputy General Manager, Government and Enterprise Account Dept, China Mobile Zhejiang.

He cited government programs such as the 512 project, the recent national 5G ‘Set Sail Plan’ and the provincial government’s 5G action plan as critical to the development of industrial 5G in Zhejiang.

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“Such policies provide a huge boost to enterprise 5G,” he said.

China Mobile Zhejiang has deployed 42,000 5G base stations across the province, achieving full coverage of all towns.

However, Sun said the 5G value chain would take some time to grow.

“Developing the 5G industry is like running a marathon. It takes time for the value chain to mature,” he pointed out.

The other key success factor is a thriving ecosystem with successful upstream and downstream partners.

China Mobile Zhejiang set up the provincial 5G Industry Alliance, which now has 329 members and is working with member companies to develop industry applications.

The operator had also launched a 5G app competition, backed by big VC players, aimed at “creating a hundred billion yuan market.”

But Sun said 5G’s growth would depend on new breakthroughs and its integration with other digital technologies.

“5G is a network. It needs to be integrated with cutting-edge technologies like AI, big data, cloud computing, and block chain to move the industry forward,” he said.

To drive 5G growth, China Mobile Zhejiang has built out multiple showcases and demonstration projects and developed 400 provincial-level special projects.

It has established 50 5G innovation labs with partners from 18 industry segments. It has also run 5G smart factory innovation projects with 40 leading enterprises.

It is also working closely with the Zhejiang provincial government, which is heavily backing digital transformation as a means of driving future economic growth and social development.

China Mobile has proposed a core architecture for industrial internet applications and has carried out collaborative 5G smart factory projects with more than 40 major enterprises.

“We hope to complete smart factory demonstration projects and set good examples for the future,” Sun said.

“As smart factories will use machines to replace people or to assist people, it is promising to use them to reduce costs and improve quality and efficiency.”

In another collaboration, China Mobile Zhejiang has deployed 5G to fully cover a plant for aluminum die casting manufacturer IKD Ltd, enabling the creation of 15 5G application scenarios.

IKD's Factory No. 6 is the first factory with full 5G coverage in China.

“IKD's output value per capita, the average production efficiency of equipment and the qualification yield rate have all been greatly improved,” Sun said.

To further develop 5G, China Mobile Zhejiang would bring in more partners to the industry chain and seek to tap the professional expertise from within the China Mobile group.

“We will make more efforts to create a prosperous, open and converged 5G ecosystem.”

Resources show that China Mobile Zhejiang is in spearheading the 5G use case application in China. And the technology and solution innovations are also being continuously supported by vendors like Huawei.

This content is sponsored by C114.