BEIJING: Battling a wave of opposition to its 5G trials from the US and other countries, China's telecom technology giant, Huawei has installed the first three 5G stations in Tibet.
The first three 5G base stations have been installed, with equipment provided by Huawei, the state-run Global Times reported on Saturday.
The 5G stations are being installed in different parts of China as part of Huawei's plans to lead the 5G trials despite the opposition. The US has been putting pressure on the countries, it has closer ties, to ban Huawei and other Chinese telecom firms from providing gear used to build 5G wireless networks.
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The 5G is the next generation of cellular technology with download speeds 10 to 100 times faster than 4G LTE networks. Huawei has denied official links with the Chinese government.
China Mobile's Tibet branch announced on Friday that one of the 5G base stations, with a peak download speed of 530 megabytes per second (MBps), became operational in Lhasa on Wednesday, the report said.
Xiang Ligang, chief executive of telecom industry news site cctime. com, told the Global Times that construction of the 5G network in the remote areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau faces challenges from cold weather and high altitude.
"Electricity supply alone is a complex process," Xiang said, adding that optical fiber tends to lack stability in cold weather. Xiang insists the obstacles will be overcome.
"It is important to realise synchronous development of 5G service between Tibet and other regions in China, which is a move we've been talking about since 4G kicked in," Xiang said.
The next step for China Mobile's Tibet office will be to accelerate the testing of the 5G application and promote the development of the big data industry and innovation of the Internet of Things based on 5G technology in Tibet, which will enable residents living in farming areas in Tibet to enjoy advanced modern communication services, the Tibet. "Transport, communications, and energy are equally important in driving a region's economic development," Xiang said.