Page 95 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2025

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

China’s 5G Subscriptions Surpass 1 billion

China’s 5G mobile phone subscriptions surpassed 1 billion by
the end of November, local press reported, citing data released
by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The 5G subscriptions now represent 56% of all mobile lines in
China, reflecting a 9.4 percentage point increase compared to
the previous year. The official data also showed that China had
installed approximately 4.2 million 5G base stations as of the end
of November. This infrastructure accounts for more than 60% of the
global total, according to earlier industry estimates. Currently, the
country boasts a total of 29 5G base stations per 10,000 residents,
meeting a target outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025)
ahead of schedule, according to Zhang Yunming, Vice Minister
of MIIT. These networks now provide comprehensive coverage,
including critical areas such as government service hubs, cultural
landmarks, tourist destinations and key transportation corridors.
Efforts by the Chinese government to extend 5G connectivity to
rural and remote regions are also underway as part of a broader
strategy to bridge the digital divide, the report added. The MIIT,
in collaboration with 11 other government bodies, recently
announced an updated plan to expand 5G applications, with a goal
of widespread use by 2027. Known as the second “Set Sail” action
plan, it prioritizes consumer-oriented applications and aims to:
-Increase 5G base stations to 38 per 10,000 people.
-Achieve a personal 5G user penetration rate exceeding 85%.
-Ensure that over 75% of network traffic is carried via 5G networks.
The report also stated that Shanghai, one of China’s key
economic centers, has unveiled a three-year strategy to scale up
5G applications by 2026. This includes advancing 5G Advanced
(5G-A) technology and fostering its convergence with artificial
intelligence. Specific objectives include achieving a 5G personal
user penetration rate of over 90% and ensuring continuous 5G and
5G-A coverage for low-altitude aviation routes.

Over 100 million Wi-Fi HaLow IoT Devices Within Five Years

There will be over 100 million Wi-Fi HaLow devices, geared for mid- claim it offers a 10-times advance in terms of range, compared
range IoT applications in 850-950 MHz spectrum, in circulation by with conventional Wi-Fi. The marketing also suggests a 100-times
2029, reckons ABI Research. The projection describes the creation advance in terms of coverage area, and 1,000-times advance in
of an entire market, effectively; there are only “several million” Wi- terms of coverage volumes. ABI Research has a new research
Fi HaLow-enabled devices in existence, as it stands. Wi-Fi HaLow, paper on the technology. The firm forecasts “dramatic growth” in
sing sub-GHz spectrum frequencies in global ISM bands, makes smart homes and offices, as well as in the agricultural and industrial
Wi-Fi a candidate technology, suddenly, for low-power IoT use sectors. Andrew Zignani, senior research director at ABI Research,
cases – which have traditionally been the reserve of cellular and said: “Wi-Fi HaLow offers robust, long-range connectivity with low-
non-cellular wide-area IoT technologies such as NB-IoT/LTE-M power consumption, making it ideal for home, building, facility, or
and LoRaWAN, as well as shorter-range IoT technologies like neighborhood-level IoT applications… [It] provides enhanced signal
RFID and BLE. Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) offers advantages over penetration, enabling operation of beyond one kilometer in certain
the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, where Wi-Fi traditionally configurations, [and] up to 10-times longer range compared to
plays, insofar as the spectrum is less congested and lower 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. It can support thousands of devices from a single
frequency, improving reliability, propagation, and coverage. As a access point, reducing deployment complexity and total cost of
consequence, the HaLow version makes Wi-Fi viable effectively ownership (TCO) compared to other IoT technologies.”
for lower-power wider-area IoT cases. Fans of the technology

95 JAN-FEB 2025