China Unicom reveals 5G network expansion with China Telecom

China Unicom has revealed the latest Capex spending for the first half of 2020 focusing on the expansion of 5G network.
China Unicom and China Telecom together added 150,000 5G base stations in the first half of the year. Currently, the company deployed a total of 210,000 5G base stations in service, of which China Unicom built more than 100,000 base stations, providing coverage in more than 50 major cities.

Meanwhile, China Unicom has expanded the co-build co-share with China Telecom in 4G and other areas, in order to improve resource utilisation efficiency.

China Unicom’s Capex for building 5G network touched 12.6 billion yuan in the first half of 2020.

Team behind China Unicom

Wang Xiaochu, chairman and CEO
Mai Yanzhou, senior vice president
Liang Baojun, senior vice president
Zhu Kebing, executive director & CFO
Fan Yunjun, executive director and senior vice president
He Biao, senior vice president

China Unicom upgraded 4G BTS to 5G BTS by software at 2.1GHz band, while equipped with 3G / 4G / 5G functions through SDR in certain provinces. China Unicom is also aiming to upgrade 5G network upgrade to SA (standalone), assuring commercialisation in Q4 2020.

China Unicom is planning to spend 35 billion yuan in 2020 building its nationwide 5G network.
China Unicom it will co-build and co-share 250,000 5G BTS with China Telecom , targeting to complete by end of Q3 2020. 300,000 5G BTS will be in service covering all prefectural cities nationwide.

China Unicom and China Telecom will be sharing 300MHz of contiguous spectrum in 3.3- 3.6GHz band, mainly for city coverage – targeting 200MHz for outdoor and 300MHz for indoor.

China Unicom and China Telecom will promote hybrid network deployment at 2.1GHz and  3.5GHz bands to enhance network capability and lower total cost of ownership.

China Unicom said its revenue rose 4 percent to 138.3 billion yuan in the first half of 2020. Profit grew 10.1 percent to 7.6 billion yuan.

China Unicom’s mobile service revenue fell 2.8 percent. Mobile billing subscribers reached 310 million and mobile billing subscribers ARPU increased by 0.2 percent.

China Unicom’s revenue from industry Internet business increased 36 percent to 22.7 billion yuan, as a percentage of the overall service revenue increased to 16 percent.

China Unicom’s fixed-line service revenue increased 14 percent to 60.6 billion yuan.

China Unicom’s fixed-line broadband access revenue rose 5.9 percent to 21.9 billion yuan. It added 2.4 million fixed-line broadband subscribers, reaching 85.88 million subscribers in the first half.