In 2021, China adhered to the principle of "waiting for cars rather than waiting for roads", and moderately advanced the construction of information and communication infrastructure. Remarkable achievements have been made in the construction of "Double Gigabit" networks - gigabit optical networks cover 300 million households, a total of 1.425 million 5G base stations have been built and opened, and "broadband access to every village" has been fully realized in 512,000 administrative villages across the country. Looking forward to 2022, as China's economy continues to follow the theme of high-quality development, "Double Gigabit" is ushering in a new window of opportunity.
Under the guidance of policies, the construction of "double Gigabit" is rising steadily
In recent years, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have taken promoting the development of broadband networks, expanding integrated applications and comprehensively pushing forward the development of digital economy as an important means to seize strategic opportunities. A series of important strategic deployments have pointed out the direction for "Double Gigabit". The 14th Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and The Action Plan for Coordinated Development of "Double Gigabit" Networks (2021-2023) clearly reflect the determination and vision of the state to vigorously promote the moderately advanced development of gigabit optical networks and 5G.
In the 14th five-year plan, 20 relevant columns and 102 major projects involve cloud computing, big data, Internet of things, intelligent manufacturing, intelligent transportation, intelligent medical treatment, intelligent home and rural infrastructure. The 14th five-year plan proposed to "improve the level of rural broadband network", "build high-speed and high-capacity optical communication transmission system", "accelerate the large-scale deployment of 5G network, increase the user penetration rate to 56%, and promote the upgrading of gigabit optical fiber network", which provides long-term policy guidance for the construction of "Double Gigabit" network in the future.
The Action Plan for Coordinated Development of "Double Gigabit" Networks (2021-2023) stipulates that by the end of 2023, gigabit optical fiber networks will have the capacity to cover 400 million households, the scale of 10G PON ports and above will exceed 10 million, the number of gigabit broadband subscribers will exceed 30 million, and regions at and above the township level and key administrative villages will be basically covered by the 5G networks. According to the current growth trend, it is not difficult to predict that this goal in 2023 may be achieved ahead of schedule in 2022.
Technological evolution to enhance the new momentum of high-quality development
National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently issued The Notice on the Implementation Plan of Invigorating the Operation of Industrial Economy and Promoting High-Quality Industrial Development, requiring "layout of a number of new infrastructure projects in 5G, gigabit optical network and other fields" and "start the construction project of integrated big data center hub nodes and the infrastructure network improvement project of small and medium-sized cities in Central and Western China as soon as possible".
"Double Gigabit" network represented by gigabit optical network and 5G is an important component and bearing base of new infrastructure. It plays an important role in pushing forward scientific and technological innovation, stimulating effective investment, promoting information consumption and enabling the transformation and development of thousands of industries.
While giving empowerment, 5G and gigabit optical networks are also evolving. At the beginning of 2022, the development of 5.5G is on the line. 5.5G is not only the upgrading of communication technology, but also represents a new ecology and new opportunities, bringing more "wisdom" to many scenes. 5.5G can more finely meet the needs of automatic driving, low altitude logistics UAV flying and other application scenarios, which help itself land commercially. 5.5G, also known as Green 5G, can reduce energy consumption through intelligent energy-saving technology, enable all walks of life to achieve low-carbon energy conservation in the whole industrial chain and help achieve the goal of "Double Carbon".
Gigabit optical network has three key capabilities, including all-optical connection, ultra-high bandwidth and extreme experience. At present, the "computing power" elements represented by ICT technologies such as cloud, 5G, big data and artificial intelligence are deeply integrated with gigabit optical fiber network, which can create a smart city "all-optical base" with comprehensive improvement of security, efficiency and experience. According to The All-Optical Smart City Development Report 2.0 released by National Information Center, all-optical smart city will comprehensively accelerate the digital transformation of thousands of industries, and become a new driving force to promote the high-quality development of digital economy. In 2021, a number of all-optical smart city benchmarks have emerged in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Hohhot and other cities, which have taken the construction of gigabit optical network as the core support to comprehensively promote the construction of all-optical smart city. It is believed that more cities will join the ranks of Gigabit cities in 2022, and more Gigabit cities will be upgraded into all-optical smart cities.
The banks seem wide at the full tide, a sail with ease hangs in soft breeze. With the policy advantages superimposing its own evolution, "Double Gigabit" is planning a big article in 2022.
