Competition Heats up as China Issues 5G Licenses to Major Carriers

On June 6, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially granted 5G licenses for commercial use, marking China’s official entry into the 5G era. China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network are the first batch of companies to obtain 5G licenses.

Upon hearing the news, many Chinese smartphone manufacturers have resonated in unison and appear confident that they’ll be among the first to jump on the 5G wagon.

SEE ALSO: Chinese Companies in Fierce Competition Over 5G at MWC

OnePlus responded to the news saying they are confident that it will become the first manufacturer to launch 5G commercial smartphones in China, and is working closely with operators and 5G industry partners to provide users with the best 5G experience.

OPPO responded like-wise, claiming that it has fully prepared for 5G commercialization, and is confident to become the first domestic manufacturer to launch 5G commercial mobile phones.

Vivo also chimed in, saying that its first 5G mobile phone has been sent to its labs for network testing, which will allegedly become “the first 5G commercial mobile phones in the Chinese market”.

Another company that seemed excited about the accelerated development of 5G is American tech giant Intel. “We are very pleased to see that Intel plays an important role in the deployment of 5G networks in China, and will continue to cooperate with China’s technology industry ecological expansion to support the continuous development of 5G.”

Despite having struggled with their fair share of adversity these past few weeks, Huawei still has a positive outlook on China’s technological development and stated that they will go all out to support Chinese operators in 5G distribution using its advanced end-to-end solutions. “We believe that in the near future, Chinese 5G will lead the world.”

Featured photo credit to Xinhua/Shen Bohan