China Unicom and China Telecom decided to cooperate with each other in co-construction and sharing of 5G network recently. Security brokers predicted that the number of base stations might reduce by 20%-30% after such cooperation is made.
It is predicted that the number of 5G base stations will be 4-5 times of that of 4G base stations. According to estimate of insiders, about RMB 200 billion can be saved for each operator in capital expenditure in case of co-construction and sharing of 5G network.
Chairman and CEO of China Unicom Wang Xiaochu said, “Governments encourage operators to make co-construction and sharing in resources, as 5G needs a huge investment. China Unicom will definitely cooperate with one or more operators in this aspect.”