(Yicai Global) March 7 -- China Mobile will build at least 5,000  fifth-generation wireless network technology base stations in Shanghai  by the end of September, answering the call of local authorities who aim  for the installation of 10,000 such facilities in the eastern city by  the end of 2020.

The company aims to finish research and development scale testing of 5G  this year, said Chen Li, general manager of China Mobile's Shanghai  unit, at the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the  Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top  political advisory body.

The Beijing-based carrier aims to achieve multi-scenario end-to-end  functionality, network performance verification and a contiguous  spectrum for 5G signals in core urban areas, suburban business hotspots  and key industrial areas, he added.

The 5G network will boast a capacity of one gigabyte-per-second and a user-perceived speed of 500 megabytes-per-second.

5G represents a key technology for unlocking the potential of the digital  economy thanks to peak wireless speeds that are at least 10 times faster  than those of 4G, as well as millisecond transmission delays and  hundreds of billions of connections.

China Mobile's Shanghai unit will join hands with Shanghai Railway Bureau,  Shanghai International Automobile City, Zhenhua Electronics Group and  State Grid Information and Communication Industry Group to speed up the  cross-industry integration of 5G technologies, explore related products  and innovations. 

Shanghai aims to become a leader both nationally and globally in the application of the cutting-edge technology. 

Editor: William Clegg