Key coastal areas in China achieve continuous 5G coverage and open a new "blue" economic track for smart oceans

With the continuous expansion of 5G coverage in the ocean, the intelligent process of China's ocean industry is accelerating, and a number of new industries and formats such as 5G ocean ranching, smart ocean equipment, and ocean big data are developing at an accelerated pace. Follow the series of reports on the "New Track of China's Economy" to see the "blue" economic track led by the smart ocean.

In the past two days, on Chaolian Island, which is more than 30 kilometers away from the coast of Qingdao, staff are setting up 5G base stations on the island, expanding the 5G signal radius along the route by 53.5 kilometers, and basically achieving 5G continuous coverage in the waters near Qingdao. In Fujian, we are testing the interconnection of "5G+satellite+submarine cable" to meet the communication needs of various key scenarios in the marine industry. On the islands southeast of Zhanjiang, the feasibility of cutting-edge technologies such as 5G+microwave, 5G+satellite, and mobile phone direct satellite are being tested to accelerate the coverage of 5G networks at sea.

Zhao Jingyi, Deputy General Manager of China Unicom's Network Department: We adhere to the principle of "standing higher and seeing farther" in the construction of offshore 5G networks, and prioritize the construction of high-altitude 5G base stations in areas with coastal mountain geographical advantages; In coastal plain areas, a multi-level relay coverage scheme is designed by integrating land and sea platforms and islands. At sea, we have developed a fusion solution of 5G+microwave and 5G+satellite, effectively ensuring the on-demand deployment capability of 5G networks at sea.

In recent years, China has accelerated the construction of a maritime power. In order to guide the industry to accelerate the deep integration of 5G and ocean development, and strengthen the construction of a smart ocean 5G network, 5G+satellite+Wi Fi integrated networking has been adopted, covering three major scenarios: coastal, nearshore, and offshore in different regions. As of now, China has achieved continuous coverage of 5G networks in key areas, coastal areas, and nearshore waters up to 40 kilometers in 10 coastal provinces including Guangdong, Shandong, Fujian, and Zhejiang.

Cao Lei, Deputy Director of the Wireless Industry Department of the Radio Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology: These coastal 5G networks have the advantage of ultra long distance and high-speed data transmission on the sea surface. When combined with satellite, Wi Fi and other technological means, they not only meet the communication needs of different sea areas such as coastal, nearshore, and distant seas, but also empower intelligent applications in the marine field.

5G accelerates the integration of industries and promotes the development of marine economy

The continuously dense offshore 5G network is enabling the emergence of new smart ocean applications such as 5G+ocean ranches, 5G+offshore drilling platforms, and 5G+intelligent ships, which are changing the production and life at sea.

Sandu Town in Ningde, Fujian is the core area for the cultivation of large yellow croaker in China, where over 80% of the country's large yellow croaker is produced. Local fishermen mainly raise sea products such as yellow croaker and abalone through underwater net cages from nearshore fishing rafts. This ocean ranch has started trying underwater robots to help fishermen raise fish.

Lei Qi, a wireless network engineer at China Mobile Fujian Ningde Branch, said that through 5G network, an experienced underwater robot operator can quickly serve multiple fishing grounds, improve underwater inspection efficiency, and basically meet the transmission of ultra clear picture quality videos. The operation delay can be controlled within 0.1 seconds.

Local breeders told reporters that underwater cages are prone to being cut by debris such as oyster shells, causing economic losses.

Chen Jinsheng, a yellow croaker farmer, said: "It's definitely not possible to pull up every net underwater to check. The only way is to rely on robots to probe into the sea and repair it in time if it's broken.". Nowadays, a basket of fish costs millions of yuan, and even if it runs away at once, it will run a lot.

Nowadays, fishing rafts are equipped with 5G high-definition cameras, and farmers no longer have to stay at sea all year round like before. They can remotely check the breeding situation with their phones.

Farmer Shi Qiuli: Before, I used to watch fishing rafts and spent the whole year inside them. I can see it on my phone when I go out for half a year now, so I feel at ease.

Also using the high-speed 5G network is the offshore oil and gas platform more than 100 kilometers away. In the Xijiang Oilfield in the the Pearl River Mouth Basin, a new generation of detection robots and a variety of intelligent mobile terminals are online. Through the efficient transmission of the 5G network, the platform can be unattended.

Chen Sanjun, General Manager of China National Offshore Oil Corporation's Xijiang Oilfield Operation Area: With the support of 5G high-speed network, the transformation of typhoon production mode is underway. When a typhoon arrives, remote monitoring and control of offshore production facilities can be achieved on land, effectively promoting the safe and stable production of offshore oil fields.

5G towards the sea is promoting independent innovation in China's marine industry, accelerating the intelligent and digital integration development of industries such as fisheries, transportation, energy, and environmental monitoring.

Professor Liu Shuguang from the School of Economics at Ocean University of China: Traditional marine fisheries, traditional marine manufacturing, including the development of marine engineering equipment and some new energy, actually require information integration and the construction of smart oceans.

5G Driving towards Deep Blue to Give Birth to a New Track of Smart Ocean Industry

The construction of smart oceans is promoting the digitization, greening, and intelligent upgrading of traditional marine industries. A batch of new formats, models, and equipment for the marine industry have emerged, opening up a new track for the smart marine industry.

When the reporter arrived at a company in Qingdao that produces traditional sea buoys, it happened to coincide with the completion of their newly developed unmanned observation sailboat assembly. It can not only provide navigation power with sails, but also power multiple marine environmental monitoring devices with solar panels at the top. Connected to a 5G network at sea, it can achieve intelligent monitoring of the marine environment.

Li Yang, Chief Engineer of Qingdao Haiyan Electronics Co., Ltd.: Conventional water quality monitoring instruments, as well as some nutrients, including meteorological observation sensors, can be installed on the ship's hull. With 5G, we can cover up to about 50 nautical miles in coastal areas. Through signal transmission, we can directly transmit the observed information back, achieving information exchange and remote control between the shore based control center and unmanned sailboats.

It is reported that after entering the sea, such a monitoring platform can achieve normalized navigation based monitoring of the ecological environment of the coastal zone, which will change the previous problems of high cost and discontinuous data relying on personnel for monitoring at sea. The person in charge of the enterprise told reporters that unmanned monitoring sailboats have just received three orders and are preparing for mass production.

Not only on the sea, but also under the traction of 5G smart ocean, intelligent equipment under the sea has begun to enter industrial development. This enterprise that produces underwater robots is utilizing the high bandwidth characteristics of 5G at sea to develop a new generation of underwater robots.

Fan Ping, Technical Director of Qingdao Luobofei Marine Technology Co., Ltd.: Our underwater robot products are small, medium, and large, suitable for different sea areas. The video information captured by these robots underwater can be transmitted to the water surface through their cables. Data can be directly transmitted back to land through 5G networks, and then automatically identified and analyzed in data centers.

The extension of 5G technology to the marine field not only promotes the digital transformation and upgrading of the industry, brings new tracks and models for information consumption, but also drives the development of intelligent marine engineering equipment industry. The number of newly registered enterprises in China's marine related industry has been increasing year by year, especially in 2020 when 5G technology began to enter the marine field. The number of newly registered enterprises has almost doubled compared to the previous year and has maintained rapid growth since then. As of the end of August, nearly 40000 marine related enterprises have been newly registered this year, exceeding 80% of the total of last year.

Professor Liu Shuguang from the School of Economics at Ocean University of China: The era of smart oceans has just begun, and related industries are developing at a relatively explosive speed and trend, entering a new track. The traditional protection and development of marine resources, as well as the sustainable development of marine fisheries, have brought the entire marine industry into an era of intelligent upgrading.