BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China's leading mobile operators including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, will continue to invest in 5G network in 2019, with total investment estimated at no more than 34.2 billion yuan, according to their annual reports of 2018 announced recently.
China Mobile did not specify its 5G budget in 2019, but said it would build 30,000 to 50,000 5G base stations this year with total investment no higher than its 5G capital expenditure of 17.2 billion yuan in 2018.
China Telecom plans to invest nine billion yuan in 5G network construction in 2019, and set up a total of 20,000 5G base stations in major Chinese cities on the basis of 1,000 such infrastructure in 17 cities in China.
China Unicom's capital expenditure on 5G networks in 2019 is estimated to reach six to eight billion yuan. The operator mulls over expanding the scale of 5G tests and pushing ahead the development of non-standalone and standalone networks in 2019.
As China is stepping up efforts to ensure the commercial use of 5G technology starting from 2020, mobile operators' capital expenditure would increase correspondingly, said telecom industry expert Xiang Ligang.
The three operators' total capital expenditure in 2019 is projected to exceed 300 billion yuan, according to their financial reports. (Edited by Su Dan)
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