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Tag: Unicom

  • ZTE, China Telecom and China Unicom join forces to consolidate 5G network verification

    ZTE, China Telecom and China Unicom join forces to consolidate 5G network verification

    The verification, based on the real 5G commercial network environment, covers the basic functions of network selection and anchor carrier triggering, network management functions of rights management and northbound interface in the DT environment, as well as multi-dimensional deep network sharing capability verification, such as multi-vendor, multi-operator mobility.

    The co-build co-share mode is capable of providing the broadband multi-operator 5G services on the same 5G base station, and reasonably allocating spectrum resources based on user requirements and service requirements. It fully demonstrates the system’s stability and outstanding performance, as well as its complete capacity for large-scale commercial use.

    In addition, compared with the original construction strategy that each operator builds its own 5G networks, 5G co-build co-share sites across operators will effectively save investment in 5G networks. By promoting the sharing of infrastructure between operators, the co-build co-share mode can help operators build 5G networks with lower costs and more effective methods.

    On September 9, 2019, China Telecom and China Unicom signed the 5G network co-build co-share framework cooperation agreement. As a strategic partner of China Telecom and China Unicom, ZTE fully supports its network construction and service operation. ZTE has innovatively proposed a flexible ultra-broadband spectrum application solution to support the co-build co-share mode, which helps reduce infrastructure construction costs, thereby further realizing the economic and social value of 5G.

    In the future, ZTE will continue to partner with China Telecom and China Unicom to explore the applications of new 5G technologies in commercial networks, improve network quality, build more high-quality 4/5G networks, in a bid to provide users with better services.

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  • Unicom, Ericsson to collaborate on 5G development

    Unicom, Ericsson to collaborate on 5G development

    China Unicom and Ericsson have signed an agreement to accelerate the development of commercial 5G technology.

    The agreement signed at China Unicom’s 5G Innovation and Cooperation Conference in Shenzhen involves further co-operation on a 5G test network.

    The companies have already completed innovative 5G projects, such as the live 4K HD broadcast of a marathon; live 8K HD broadcast of the Women’s World Club Volleyball Championship; 360 degree panoramic live broadcasting, and driving demos.

    Meanwhile China Telecom and Ericsson announced they are collaborating to provide an end-to-end 5G network for the Beijing Expo 2019 horticultural exhibition in Beijing’s Yanqin district.

    The two companies are providing an end-to-end 5G network for the expo offering a combination of garden art and 5G mobile edge computing (MEC) technology to provide visitors with 360-degree panoramic UHD video VR live broadcasting, 5G+VR live broadcasting, and 5G cloud gaming services.

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  • China Unicom brings 9 investors to IoV subsidiary

    China Unicom brings 9 investors to IoV subsidiary

    China Unicom said a group of automobile OEMs have invested in its Internet of Vehicle (IoV) unit China Unicom Smart Connection Technology.

    Nine strategic investors, including major automobile companies FAW, Guangzhou Automobile Group and Dongfeng Motor Group, among others have picked up a combined 31.2% in Smart Connection Technology.

    The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

    Following the introduction of strategic investors, Unicom now directly owns 68.8% of shares in the IoV unit, the Chinese telco said in a company statement.

    The divestment of stakes is part of the 5G business strategy of Unicom, which aims to launch commercial 5G services in 2020.

    Unicom said the new investors have strong strategic synergy with Smart Connection Technology in fields such as automobile manufacturing, industrial internet, technology and resources, and capital investment.

    The tie-up will enable Smart Connection Technology to secure better industry resources and competitive advantages to provide connected vehicle and service operation solutions and tap the business opportunities brought by 5G, the company added.

    Smart Connection Technology, established in 2015, provides services to major automobile OEMs in both domestic and international markets. According to Unicom, Smart Connection Technology has an over 70% share of the IoV market in China.

  • 211 operators globally investing in 5G

    211 operators globally investing in 5G

    At least 211 operators across 87 countries are investing in 5G, according to statistics compiled by consultancy company Hadden Telecoms.

    Operators investing in 5G are at a variety of stages, ranging from network deployments, to technology testing, demonstrations and pilot trials.

    To date, 15 operators have commercially launched 5G services, including Telstra and Optus in Australia, which are offering fixed wireless 5G services on the 3.6-GHz band. Vodafone Australia and the market’s national broadband network operator NBN Co are also investing in 5G.

    South Korea’s KT, LG U+ and SK Telecom meanwhile switched on their 3.5-GHz 5G networks last year, initially for enterprise customers only, and are planning to simultaneously launch commercial services for consumers shortly.

    The list of operators investing in 5G in Asia Pacific also includes China’s big three operators China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, Hong Kong’s 3 Hong Kong, China Mobile Hong Kong, HKT and SmarTone, and India’s Bharti Airtel, BSNL and Reliance Jio Infocomm.

    In Japan, KDDI, NTT Docomo, Rakuten Mobile and Softbank are spending heavily on 5G, while Malaysia’s Celcom, DiGi, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia and U Mobile and the Philippines’ Globe and PLDT are also trialing the technology.

    Singapore’s M1, Singtel and StarHub, Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata and Mobitel, Taiwan’s APT, Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone and Taiwan Mobile, Thailand’s AIS, Dtac, TOT and TrueMove and Vietnam’s Viettel are also at various stages of 5G development.

    “Operators globally are preparing for the large-scale introduction of 5G, the first services have launched, and the devices ecosystem is rapidly building and poised for the imminent scale availability of a range of smartphone models,” Hadden Telecoms director Alan Hadden said.

    “Dozens more operators are expected to launch their respective 5G services in the coming 12 months.”

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  • China Unicom profit spikes 457.8% in 2018

    China Unicom profit spikes 457.8% in 2018

    China Unicom has reported a more than five fold growth in net profit for 2018 as a result of strong data revenue growth and benefits from the company’s mixed ownership reform program.

    The annual results show a 457.8% spike in net profit to 10.19 billion yuan, contributing to what the operator called a “V-shaped rebound in profit” following its financial woes in 2016, when the operator’s annual profit shrank by nearly 95%.

    Operating revenue grew 5.8% to 290.88 billion yuan, with service revenue up 5.9% to 260.68 billion yuan.

    Mobile service revenue for the year grew 5.5% from the prior year to 165.1 billion yuan, with mobile data revenue jumping 13.7% to 104.8 billion yuan.

    China Unicom meanwhile recorded total 4G net additions of 45.05 million for the year, taking its total 4G subscriber base to 220 million. This represents 70% of the operator’s total mobile customer base, an eight percentage point increase from 2017.

    Total fixed broadband subscribers meanwhile increased by 4.3 million to more than 80 million, but fixed broadband revenue declined to 42.3 billion yuan due to intense competition and ongoing mobile substitution.

    The operator’s results represent the first full year of implementation of the mixed ownership reform program, which has involved opening up investment in a Chinese mobile operator to private investors for the first time.

    As part of the program, at the direction of the Chinese government, Unicom sold a 35% stake in the company to a group of 14 investors in 2017.

    “Looking ahead, the mixed-ownership reform has powered up the company with differentiated advantages, bringing invaluable opportunities for development,” China Unicom chairman and CEO Wang Xiaochu said.

    He said the company plans to continue to pursue growth based on its “Five New” operating strategy.

    “We intend to unleash more institutional benefits brought by New Governance, activate greater internal vibrancy with New DNA, achieve better efficiency and returns with New Operation, tap into the broader blue ocean with New Energy, and put together greater synergetic advantages with New Ecology.”

  • China Unicom hosts 5G in smart education conference

    China Unicom hosts 5G in smart education conference

    China Unicom is collaborating with Chinese gaming and mobile application developer NetDragon WebSoft to develop 5G-enabled future classroom applications.

    The operator jointly held a 5G + Smart Education Industry Education conference in Wuhan to demonstrate the potential of 5G to transform the education process.

    The conference, which was also organized by the National Engineering Research Center for E-Learning of Central China Normal University and National Engineering Laboratory for Educational Big Data, ad co-organized by NetDragon, Huawei and the China Information Communication Technologies Group Corporation.

    At the conference, China Unicom demonstrated the use of 5G and holographic technology to provide a new-experience open physics lecture to students across different regions simultaneously.

    NetDragon WebSoft also  demonstrated a wide range of education products, including Holographic Interactive Learning, VR Immersion Classroom, One-Stop Learning, and other educational products.

    “5G will become a crucial foundation for our country’s information and communication construction, as well as the key to the development of industrial internet and artificial intelligence,” China Unicom deputy general manager Liang Baojun said.

    “In this context, China Unicom, as one of the leaders in the telecommunication industry, will jointly conduct 5G business research with multiple industrial enterprise partners to lay the foundation for promoting full commercial use of 5G. At the same time, we will leverage on resources from our existing network, incubation of 5G application and support from our industrial chain to fully support the development of education in China.”

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  • China Unicom more than doubles nine-month profit

    China Unicom more than doubles nine-month profit

    China Unicom has revealed it expects to report a more than doubling of its profit for the first nine months of the year, despite facing significant pressure on mobile service revenues. The operator’s unaudited results show a 116.6% increase in net profit for the first three quarters of 2018 to 8.87 billion yuan ($1.28 billion).

    Mobile service revenue grew an estimated 7.2% year-on-year to 125.42 billion yuan, despite the company’s ongoing implementation of a national policy requiring operators to upgrade network speeds while reducing tariffs for customers.

    The nation’s operators have agreed to reduce the cost of mobile data services by at least 30% by the end of the year.

    China Unicom also stopped charging domestic data roaming fees from July in response to another government directive. Roaming fees for domestic long distance calls were abolished last year.

    In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Unicom said it was able to mitigate these pressures on its mobile revenues by optimizing tariff packages and more heavily promoting large data bundles to its customers.

    Fixed line revenues are meanwhile expected to have grown 5.2% year-on-year to 73.22 billion yuan.

    China Unicom’s profit for the nine month period also includes a 1.47 billion yuan influx resulting from an increase in its share of the profit from tower infrastructure joint venture China Tower following its public listing and new share issuance.

    The company added that it is anticipating a seasonal increase in competition during the fourth quarter, but it has strategic plans in place to cope with any challenges.

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  • China Unicom, Kuang-Chi sign cooperation agreements

    China Unicom, Kuang-Chi sign cooperation agreements

    China Unicom has signed business cooperation framework agreements with Kuang-Chi Technologies and KuangChi Science, subsidiaries of Kuang-Chi Group.

    The agreement is an integral part of a series of cooperation framework agreements which Unicom signed with strategic investors in key industry verticals participating in its mixed-ownership reform, the Chinese operator said in a statement.

    Under the agreement, Unicom will work closely with Kuang-Chi Technologies and KuangChi Science in areas such as military-civil integration, public security, smart cities and smart transportation. The companies will also cooperate to explore new opportunities in cloud computation, big data, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), digital content and payment finance.

    Unicom announced its 77.9 billion yuan ($11.7 billion) ownership reform plan in August 2017, bringing in 14 new strategic investors including large internet companies, industrial groups and industry vertical companies and financial enterprises.  The operator has already signed framework agreements with internet and e-commerce giants Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Jingdong (owner of the JD.com brand).

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  • Unicom to get $11.65b funding injection

    Unicom to get $11.65b funding injection

    Chinese state-owned operator China Unicom will raise around 78 billion yuan ($11.65 billion) through investments from private companies including Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.

    The operator announced it has secured approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for its plan to open up to private investment under the government’s mixed ownership reform pilot program.

    The company will bring in 14 new strategic investors including large internet companies, industrial groups and industry vertical companies and financial enterprises.

    Unicom has already signed framework agreements with internet and e-commerce giants Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Jingdong (owner of the JD.com brand).

    Other investors include retailer Suning Holdings, technology conglomerate Kuang-Chi Group, Didi Chuxing (China’s Uber) and data center services provider Wangsu Science and Technology.

    As part of the ownership reform, Unicom also intends to issue around 850 million shares to employees as incentive bonuses, representing around 2.7% of the company.

    Under the new structure, Unicom Group’s stake in the operator would be reduced to 36.7% from the current 62.7%. The new investors will pick up a combined 35.2% stake. Public shareholders in Unicom’s Hong Kong listed investment vehicle would meanwhile see their ownership reduced to 25.4% from the current 37.3%.

    Unicom plans to use the funds raised from the investment to enhance its 4G capacity and coverage, conduct 5G trials and build pre-commercial trial networks and invest in innovative new businesses.

    The development came as China Unicom reported a strong 68.9% growth in net profit for the first half of 2017 as the operator made progress with its turnaround efforts.

    Net profit reached 2.41 billion yuan, despite a 1.5% decrease in operating revenue to 138.16 billion yuan. But service revenue improved 3.2% to 124.11 billion yuan.

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  • Unicom expects 69% profit growth for 1H17

    Unicom expects 69% profit growth for 1H17

    China Unicom has announced it expects to report a 68.9% increase in profit for the first six months of the year, partly as a result of improved cost efficiencies.

    The company estimates it earned a profit of 2.4 billion yuan ($359.9 million) for the six month period, despite a 1.5% decrease in overall revenue to 138.2 billion.

    Service revenue is expected to be up 3.2% year-on-year to 124.1 billion yuan, with mobile service revenue up 5.2% year on year.

    But due to intense competition in the fixed broadband market, China Unicom expects flat fixed line service revenue of 46.6 billion yuan. Combined with a decline in revenue from sales of telecoms products, total revenue is expected to have declined.

    But sales and marketing expenses, handset subsidies and other expenses were both lower year-on-year, leading to a projected 5.5% increase in ebitda to 43.6 billion yuan, representing around 35.1% of service revenue.

    Looking ahead to the second half of the year, Unicom cautioned that the mandated abolition of domestic long distance and roaming fees on September 1 and cyclical increases in competition will place increasing pressure on the company’s financial performance.

    Unicom will meanwhile act as the test subject for China’s planned mixed ownership model pilot program for the nation’s state-owned operators, bringing in private investors.

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  • China Unicom’s mixed ownership pilot approved

    China Unicom’s mixed ownership pilot approved

    China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has given approval for a pilot program involving opening investment in China Unicom to the private sector, to evaluate transitioning to a mixed ownership model for the market’s state-owned operators.

    In an announcement, Unicom confirmed that the NDRC has given in-principle approval for the pilot program.

    But the details of the pilot – such as the identities of the private investors, pricing terms and percentage of shareholding to be allocated – will still require approval from various ministries.

    While media outlets are reporting that Alibaba and Tencent are expected to lead the private investment in China Unicom, the operator stressed that the company has not entered any legally binding agreement with any potential investors. But the company did not explicitly deny that negotiations with the internet giants are underway.

    “[Unicom’s controlling shareholder] is not aware of the source of  information in those media reports and has not entered into any legally binding documents, including framework agreement or subscription agreement, with any potential investor,” the company said.

    The Chinese government is conducting the pilot as part of plans to evaluate opening China’s telecoms sector up to private investment to reform the ownership structure and competitiveness of Unicom as well as rivals China Mobile and China Telecom.

    Unicom was selected for the pilot because it is the least profitable of China’s big three operators.

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  • Unicom, Ericsson, Qualcomm demo VoLTE over Cat-M1

    Unicom, Ericsson, Qualcomm demo VoLTE over Cat-M1

    China Unicom, Ericsson and Qualcomm have completed the first demonstration of LTE Cat-M1 Voice over LTE use cases.

    The demonstrations at last week’s Mobile World Congress Shanghai involved providing connectivity for a fire alarm trigger panel and a GPS emergency tracking device.

    The demos were conducted using Unicom’s spectrum, Ericsson’s IoT and VoLTE capable network infrastructure and IoT devices equipped with Qualcomm multimode IoT modems.

    Adding VoLTE support to Cat-M1 allows IoT devices based on the cellular IoT technology to make voice calls as well as sending data.

    The demonstrated showed that emergency communications devices can be designed or retrofitted to  support wireless connectivity, supporting voice communication between the devices and emergency centers.

    In the case of the fire alarm trigger panels, people triggering an alarm were able to describe the situation to first responders and get immediate guidance.

    The GPS emergency tracking device demonstration meanwhile showcased the ability of such devices to send GPS location data while enabling VoLTE calls for coordinated emergency response.

    “China Unicom aims to drive the development of the IoT and accelerate cellular network development and large-scale business implementation by constructing the leading 4G FDD network,” Unicom executive director and senior vice president Guanglu Shao said.

    “We launched NB-IoT on a pre-commercial basis on May 12 in Shanghai. This cooperation on eMTC with Ericsson and Qualcomm is a new venture intended to boost social intelligence and the Internet of Everything through wide cooperation and the construction of leading networks.”

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  • Unicom launches trial of Nokia VSR

    Unicom launches trial of Nokia VSR

    China Unicom has launched a live trial of Nokia’s Virtualized Services Router for around 5,000 residential broadband subscribers.

    The trial in the province of Shandong involves the delivery of residential broadband over an agile network based on virtualized network functions.

    China Unicom is using Nokia VSR as a virtualized broadband network gateway (BNG) for residential subscriber management functions.

    The operator plans to migrate massive BNG services to the virtualized platform as part of an initiative to transform its metro server edge.

    China Unicom plans to extend the trial to other parts of the network over the next two years as it moves to the next phase of the trial, which will incorporate the delivery of IPTV services.

    “We are proud to be a part of China Unicom’s initiative to evolve its metro edge to a cloud-centric architecture,” Nokia head of IP routing and packet core Sri Reddy said.

    “The Nokia VSR provides delivery of broad and rich virtualized IP edge applications with superior performance and enhanced scalability. Upon completion of this network transformation project, China Unicom will ensure increased operational efficiency and deliver a superior customer experience for its subscribers.”

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  • Huawei, Unicom complete FDD Massive MIMO field trial

    Huawei, Unicom complete FDD Massive MIMO field trial

    Huawei and China Unicom have completed field verification of what they are billing as the industry’s first FDD-based Massive MIMO technology.

    The field test used the existing two-antenna receiving terminal on the 20MHz spectrum and an FDD LTE commercial terminal to achieve a peak network rate of 697.3Mbps, nearly five times that of traditional FDD LTE.

    Huawei said the joint test demonstrated that the average mobile phone rate grows up to 87Mbps, enough for the smooth streaming of 4K HD video.

    Massive MIMO architecture requires large-scale antenna array elements and RF transceiver channels. Huawei’s solution uses it AAU technology, which integrates RF and antenna elements. The technology also uses 3D user-level beamforming to improve coverage and reduce interference.

    Huawei president of FDD products Cao Ming said when end-user devices supporting the 3GPP Release 10, 13 and 16 protocols – which define eight, 16 and 32 port multi-antenna technology respectively – become available, the spectral efficiency of Massive MIMO will improve further.

    He said Huawei will continue to drive the development of the FDD LTE Massive MIMO industry chain.

    “Our goal is to bring considerable commercial value to operators through innovative technology,” he said.

    “This successful field verification between Huawei and China Unicom, once again demonstrated the innovative capability of Huawei’s 4.5G Evolution technology. Huawei’s Massive MIMO product has the ability to evolve to 5G to protect the operator’s investment in the coming 5G era.”

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  • Unicom trials ADVA’s G.metro technology

    Unicom trials ADVA’s G.metro technology

    China Unicom has completed a field trial of ADVA Optical Networking’s prototype G.metro (WDM-PON) technology in a fronthaul network.

    The operator demonstrated the use of a prototype technology involving using a single bidirectional fiber link between head-end and tail-end equipment during a lab demonstration in Beijing.

    The prototype uses autonomous transponders to help reduce the costs and complexity involved in metro access network applications.

    “Due to booming demand for mobile data, it’s become essential that we find innovative ways to increase capacity. Converged metro-access networks are key to this, but so are reducing complexity and improving operational efficiency,” China Unicom network technology research institute director Guangquan Wang commented.

    “During the trial, the prototype was installed in one of our central offices in Tianjin to replace the transmission link of one of our working LTE stations. The results showed that the new technology integrated seamlessly with our current wireless equipment and had no impact on services whatsoever.”

    G.metro directly distributes DWDM wavelengths to remote radio units, base stations, desktops or end users, enabling up to 40 DWDM wavelength channels with a 100GHz grid. Each channel is able to transmit data at 10Gbps over a 20km fiber distance without optical amplification.

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