After US and UK, China gives nod to 5G rollout amid global trade tensions

China on Thursday gave its major state-owned companies the green light to start rolling out 5G services in its efforts to move ahead in the global race for setting up the super-fast telecommunications system, amid simmering tensions with the US over technology and trade. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Thursday issued 5G commercial licenses to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Radio and Television. It means those carriers can start rolling out commercial 5G applications. They were given a license for testing at the end of last year.

5G is the next generation cellular technology with download speeds stated to be 10 to 100 times faster than the current 4G LTE networks. The 5G networking standard is seen as a critical because it can support the next generation of mobile devices in addition to new applications like driverless cars. Chinese officials say a comprehensive deployment of the network will help develop industrial manufacturing, internet-connected cars, healthcare, smart city management and Artificial Intelligence (AI).