GUIYANG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 20 billion yuan (about 2.82 billion U.S. dollars) will be invested in 5G construction from 2019 to 2022 in southwest China's Guizhou Province, the provincial government said Wednesday.
According to a 5G development plan released by the provincial government, the number of 5G base stations in the province will reach 32,000 by 2022.
Siting work of the stations will be completed and 5G commercial use will be realized in central Guiyang by the end of this year, with major industrial parks, tourist spots, commercial buildings and enterprises as demonstration areas.
Uninterrupted 5G network coverage will be achieved and large-scale commercial use realized in cities in the province by 2020. 5G network coverage and full-scale commercial use will be available in the centers of all counties by 2022.
By 2022, Guizhou's telecommunications revenue is expected to total 120 billion yuan and that of the software and information technology service industry will amount to 200 billion yuan. The telecommunication manufacturing industry will also have an output of 400 billion yuan, the plan said.
China has sped up its efforts to develop 5G technologies and networks. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology granted commercial-use 5G licenses in June to the country's top three telecom operators -- China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom.