SHANGHAI — A recent 5G upgrade is both benefiting and bemusing residents of a small village near Shanghai.
“What 5G?” said a convenience store owner in Zhongbu, about 30 km from the center of the metropolis. “Most of the folks here carry a smartphone that works just fine on 4G.”
“My eyesight is poor,” an elderly man told Nikkei Asia on a recent visit. “I hardly use my 4G phone unless I need to call my kids.”
Zhongbu was recently designated Shanghai’s first “5G village.” Some 600 households within the 3.67-sq.- kilometer village have been promised faster connections and less lag time for downloads with 5G. Smart bracelets have been handed out to older people to indicate their whereabouts and health status.
The scheme is part of China’s high-tech and rural transformation drives, although most people in the village are content with the existing infrastructure. In particular, 5G development is expected to accelerate over the next two to three years, according to a policy paper released last month by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a think tank that operates under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The expansion is line with the country’s “dual-circulation” development strategy aimed at achieving an innovation-driven economy, and moving away from one focused on exports and investment.
China already has a high mobile penetration rate. Its three largest operators had a combined 1.6 billion users as of the end of November, including 1.292 billion 4G users, according to official data. But industry players want 5G to be standard network for smartphones, touting faster download speeds and benefits for sectors such as online health care.
Village officials in Zhongbu told state media that some 30 newly installed 5G-enabled features, including smoke detectors and surveillance cameras, would keep the commune “free of thieves.”
“I may consider upgrading to a 5G phone for entertainment in the future,” said a woman who identified herself as Shi.
“With the 5G-enabled smart bracelet, my mother can alert me anytime,” a woman in Zhongbu said on state TV last month.
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