What 5G telecom towers can offer in China's digitalization

This photo taken on July 25, 2022 shows a 5G base station constructed by China Tower in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

With over 3.8 million 5G base stations now operational across China, the widespread adoption of 5G is delivering substantial benefits to both individuals and businesses, offering unprecedented convenience and a wealth of opportunities. [China Tower/Handout via Xinhua]

NANJING -- With over 3.8 million 5G base stations now operational across China, the widespread adoption of 5G is delivering substantial benefits to both individuals and businesses, offering unprecedented convenience and a wealth of opportunities.

China Tower, responsible for constructing the majority of these communication base stations, positions itself as a fundamental pillar of the country's digital economy. "Only by providing robust communication infrastructure services, can the advancement of emerging industries like the industrial internet, artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse be facilitated," said Chen Xiaojie, head of the information department at China Tower.

Covering a total area of 101 square km, Jiangsu Huai'an Industrial Park in eastern China features an Internet of Things platform and AI analysis system supported by the 5G network, which can transmit and analyze the pollution and safety risk data of chemical enterprises in real time.

On the screen in the park's command center, the status of an enterprise's liquid sulfur storage tank field is displayed and updated. Real-time data measuring the tank's temperature, pressure and liquid level are sent to the command center.

The data and images collected by the toxic gas probe and related camera in the tank field are analyzed by AI, and the progress and results of risk elimination are updated in real time.

As a large number of the park's companies are involved with the storage and production of hazardous chemicals, safety is a prerequisite for everything. The park's 5G wireless network coverage has helped improve the update frequency of data transmission in environmental monitoring equipment from 20 seconds to one second.

Nowadays, high-speed train passengers frequently engage with their smartphones, sending messages and streaming videos. However, ensuring reliable communication signals for the high-speed railway poses a challenge, particularly in the Yangtze River Delta region, with its dense network of rivers and lakes.

Under these circumstances, the construction of communication base stations is not only geographically inconvenient, but also needs to be done carefully to avoid disturbing the environment.

The high-speed railway that connects Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, and Shanghai, passes over several lakes, including Gehu Lake with 166.7 square km.

To keep cell signals strong during the cross-lake section, the construction team placed 48 individual poles along both sides of the 8.5-km bridge deck. As the designed antenna height is closer to the train window, this type of pole can better ensure high-speed signal stability when combined with signal enhancement technologies.

During the operational tests, 5G network coverage rate in the section of Gehu Lake reached 100 percent, with an average download speed of 381 megabits per second. It also saves about 30 million yuan (about 4.2 million U.S. dollars) compared to the conventional plan.

Telecom towers are not just infrastructure for 5G networks but also multi-functional participants in the digital era.

Along the 97.8 km of the Yangtze River shoreline in Taizhou City, Jiangsu, over 70 telecom towers equipped with 93 three-dimensional surveillance cameras are monitoring pollution, illegal sand mining and other behaviors, and alerting the command center via video images identified by AI.

"The local environmental protection department incorporates our video detection technology into its workflow," said Shen Changjun, a department manager at China Tower's Jiangsu branch. Alarms are typically identified within five minutes, with on-site response and resolution achieved within 20 minutes.

The communication tower can also help monitor forest fires. In a forest area in Jiangsu's Wuxi City, the telecom towers with a height of 35 meters can provide a good vantage point for observing forest fires and function as electric guards after being equipped with cameras such as the thermal imaging camera.

From safeguarding the Yangtze River to monitoring forest fires, telecom towers transcend their role as mere infrastructure providers in the digital age. By integrating with the Internet of Things and AI, they become an integral, perceptible force in digital transformation, playing a pivotal role in digital governance and empowering a myriad of industries. 

This photo taken on June 13, 2024 shows a command center that monitors pollution, illegal sand mining and other behaviors along the section of Yangtze River in Taizhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province.

With over 3.8 million 5G base stations now operational across China, the widespread adoption of 5G is delivering substantial benefits to both individuals and businesses, offering unprecedented convenience and a wealth of opportunities. [Xinhua/Jiang Wenqian]

This photo taken on Oct. 17, 2023 shows a 5G base station constructed by China Tower in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province.

With over 3.8 million 5G base stations now operational across China, the widespread adoption of 5G is delivering substantial benefits to both individuals and businesses, offering unprecedented convenience and a wealth of opportunities. [China Tower/Handout via Xinhua]