5G will bring a lot more opportunities to businesses with super-fast speeds and low latency. Therefore, it’s not surprising that many cities are racing to be fully-equipped with 5G by the end of the year.
The new network requires many connection points to be close to one another, making cities the perfect candidate to host the new technology. And Shanghai, one of Asia’s biggest cities, plans to have full 5G coverage by the end of 2020.
Improve the ‘city brain’
Shanghai’s Mayor, Yong Ying plans to use both wired and wireless gigabit networks, which will transform it into a broadband city. With 12,000 5G network base stations already set up, this has enabled coverage in downtown areas, the Hongqiao business district, and the Lingang Special Area.
During the opening ceremony of the Shanghai’s legislative body annual meeting, Yong revealed that the city will use 5G to deploy advanced solutions like the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, machine intelligence, and big data.
These plans will help to transform Shanghai to a smart city and boost security levels.
“Shanghai will also improve the ‘city brain‘ architecture and build a big data platform that encompasses the entire data life cycle,” Yong explained.
Communications operators will be required to help the city to achieve these ambitious targets to meet the increased demands for 5G, and the responsibility will lie with key digital players and industrial leaders – many of which are state-owned – to embrace the new technology and utilise it in their own operations. For this plan to succeed, it’s vital for local businesses to use the technology to its full potential, provide compelling 5G uses cases, and to continue to push Shanghai towards its smart city goal.
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