In terms of NB-IoT network deployment, the telecommunications industry is required to accelerate the deployment of NB-IoT networks and provide good network coverage and service quality. By the end of 2017, the NB-IoT network will cover municipalities, provincial capitals and other major cities, and the number of base stations will reach 400,000. By 2020, the NB-IoT network will achieve universal coverage of the country, indoor, traffic network, underground network and other applications to achieve deep coverage, the scale of the base station will reach 1.5 million.
In the application promotion of NB-IoT, through the pilot demonstration, the application scenarios of NB-IoT technology are further defined, the interoperability of products from different suppliers is strengthened, and the healthy development of NB-IoT technology and industry is promoted. The realization of NB-IoT is based on 2017. The M2M (machine and machine) connection exceeds 20 million and the total number of connections in 2020 exceeds 600 million.
In terms of NB-IoT industrial chain construction, we accelerated the development of NB-IoT-specific chips, modules, network equipment, IoT applications and service platforms, etc. Due to the high price of existing NB-IoT terminal modules, it will affect the willingness of large-scale deployment. It is necessary to strengthen cooperation in all aspects and break through the weak links such as modules. The price of NB-IoT module needs to be around RMB 30, which is equivalent to the current 2G IoT module, and it has the incentive to replace; However, in the first half of 2017, the NB-IoT module has not yet reached the scale of shipments. , The price is still high (about 80~100 RMB), it cannot be widely promoted, so it becomes a key policy.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (Announcement No. 27, 2017) has specified requirements for NB-IoT including 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz announcement systems for four frequency bands. The NB-IoT system macro base station radio frequency pointers have been standardized. In addition, prescribed base stations Other radio frequency technical indicators, terminal radio frequency technical pointers and test methods refer to relevant industry standards. Among them, 800MHz/900MHz is the global mainstream frequency band of NB-IoT, and the industrial supply chain is relatively mature.
The content of the announcement includes that, in the allocated GSM or FDD mode IMT system band, the telecommunication operator can select the working mode in the frequency band, the working mode of the protection band, and the NB-IoT system in an independent working mode according to the need. Frequency use validity period and corresponding frequency band The frequency of validity of the public mobile communication system is consistent.
This announcement enables China Mobile to deploy NB-IoT on its GSM 900MHz network band. NB-IoT is an important topic in 3GPP R13, but the current standard only supports FDD LTE. China Mobile did not obtain FDD LTE licenses. After an announcement by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China Mobile could deploy NB-IoT on its GSM900MHz network band.
China Unicom's NB-IoT is deployed in the 900MHz, 1800MHz band. China Unicom is limited to 900MHz of spectrum resources (only 6MHz), so over 80% of NB-IoT base stations will adopt an upgrade deployment scheme based on 1800MHz. However, due to 1800MHz, The frequency band is high, the coverage is smaller, and the global NB-IoT deployment is mainly concentrated in 800MHz and 900MHz. Therefore, the less mature industrial chain issues will also affect the pace of Unicom's commercial use to some extent.
China Telecom's NB-IoT is deployed in the 800MHz frequency band, frequency 5MHz. 800MHz low frequency bearer, strong signal penetration, where China Telecom's mobile network can provide NB-IoT service, so the deployment of network deployment is the fastest.
At the beginning of August 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the number of the Internet of Things segment for the first time in the “Tenth Batch of Telecom Code Number Resources” (the 10th batch of 2017). China Mobile obtained the number 148 (0-9) (the special number segment of the Internet of Things business). Section 1440 (0-9) (IoT Network Number); China Telecom obtained the number 1410 (0-9) (Internet of things network number); China Unicom obtained the number 146 (0-9) (Internet of Things business After obtaining this important resource, the NB-IoT commercialization journey in mainland China will be started (Table 1).
China Mobile Completes NB-IoT Coverage in Shandong Province
In June 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that on the basis of the allocated GSM or FDD IMT system band, the operator can select the working mode in band, protection band working mode and deploy NB-IoT system in independent mode according to the need. No FDD The license of China Mobile has accelerated the deployment of the NB-IoT network. By the end of 2017, it has completed the construction of 146,000 NB-IoT base stations.
In order to meet the wide coverage of the Internet of Things and the demand for low power consumption, China Mobile has promoted the two new technologies of NB-IoT and eMTC in 2017. In May 2017, China Mobile launched the NB-IoT trial commercial in Yingtan and realized the The commercial use of NB-IoT in 346 cities across China has been further expanded; China Mobile has also further expanded its connectivity, and is expected to increase the number of smart connections by 100 million in 2017.
China Mobile actively invests in marketing resources and carries out special subsidies and special promotions. For China Mobile’s use of IOT cards as a transmission channel, corporate customers with a contract period of more than one year and products on China Mobile are given preferential subsidies. In 2018, plans will provide 2 billion yuan. RMB special subsidy, of which RMB 1 billion is a special subsidy for the NB-IoT module, with a maximum subsidy rate of 60%~80%; another RMB 1 billion subsidy for 4G modules, with a maximum subsidy ratio of 50%.
China Mobile focuses on eight vertical fields such as smart meter reading, smart home, smart building, municipalities, smart wear, transportation logistics, wide area of things, and industrial property.
Among them, China Mobile Shandong has completed the NB-IoT network covering the whole province, and built more than 10,000 NB-IoT base stations, which are widely used in municipal management, such as smart meter reading, street lights, manhole covers, parking, and transportation. The intelligent street light of NB-IoT technology has been applied to the main urban roads of Jingshi Road and Eleventh Road in Jinan City. It has realized the intelligent centralized monitoring of street lights and the single lamp energy saving management; the street lights can intelligently judge the surrounding environment brightness and traffic flow and other factors. , Automatically adjust the light brightness.
Jiangxi Mobile assisted Yingtan City in Jiangxi Province to build “Intelligent Yingtan” through the Internet of Things, and achieved global coverage of NB-IoT network including rural areas in Yingtan. In October 2017, Sanchuan Intelligent NB-IoT Water Meter deployed over 20,000 in the main urban area of Yingtan City. Taiwan, It is expected that by the end of June 2018, Yingtan will complete the deployment of 100,000 NB-IoT water meters.
At the China Mobile Global Partners Conference held in November 2017, China Mobile announced two NB-IoT tariffs, including RMB 20/year and CNY 40/year RMB (each SIM card). More specific tariffs Details have not been announced yet.
China Telecom realizes commercial use of NB-IoT smart gas meter
China Telecom's NB-IoT network is based on 800MHz low frequency bearers, with strong signal penetration. NB-IoT services can be provided in places where China Telecom's mobile network is available. The second is the largest scale, with 31,000 base stations in the entire network simultaneously upgraded to realize urban and rural areas. Full coverage.
In October 2016, China Telecom purchased LTE 800MHz equipment and standardized to support NB-IoT. In December 2016, the NB-IoT project was initiated, preparation of test resources, development of overall plans and test specifications, and completion of trial network construction in January 2017. The field test was completed in March. The nationwide NB-IoT network upgrade was completed in May. The NB-IoT package was released in June. In July, it announced that 31 provinces nationwide had completed the NB-IoT service test.
In 2017, China Telecom launched a special subsidy policy of RMB 300 million, including RMB 200 million to subsidize Cat 1 and NB-IoT modules, and NB-IoT product subsidy of RMB 20 per module.
China Telecom carried out 500,000 sets of NB-IoT terminal module procurement in October 2017 and subsidized it at a price of RMB 30 per set. Finally, Zhongxing Wulian Technology won the bid and the target price was RMB 36, with a discount of 5.47. USD. After adding the subsidy amount of 66 RMB, it is about 10 US dollars. The short-term price of NB-IoT terminal module is less than 3 US dollars.
China Telecom focuses on public utilities, smart logistics, smart homes, smart retail, healthcare and other fields. In terms of public utilities, China Telecom has achieved commercial use of NB-IoT smart gas meters.
On August 23, 2017, Shenzhen Telecom announced that 6,000 of its NB-IoT smart gas meters were deployed in the gas upgrading and upgrading of Shangbu Village in Futian District. 6,000 smart gas meters will be installed and commissioned at the beginning of September 2017 and delivered in October. Resident use. The Shenzhen Smart Gas Meter project was launched in November 2016 and was completed by Shenzhen Gas Group Co., Ltd., China Telecom, Huawei, Jincai Smart Group Co., Ltd. (Intelligent Public Utility Solution Service Providers). From the standardization of laboratory testing technology plan standards, from the deployment of selected sites to on-site testing and other series of work, formal commercial landing.
Huawei is the main promoter and standard setter of NB-IoT, and NB-IoT is also the first global commercial standard proposed by Chinese mainland companies. By promoting new communication technologies, China will create new developments in the development of capital communication products in mainland China. New opportunities.
In the process of perfecting the NB-IoT application environment, the Chinese mainland government can spare no effort, from the policy guidelines, the establishment of spectrum, and the issuance of numbers, followed by major manufacturers such as telecommunications operators and equipment manufacturers, which has spawned the NB-IoT industrial chain in Mainland China. Provided demonstration sites by local governments, introduced NB-IoT applications from the public domain, constructed concrete concepts such as commercial content of NB-IoT services, tariff design, etc.; Relevant actions were successively displayed, fully demonstrating the support of the Chinese mainland government in supporting NB-IoT. .
With China Mobile, China Telecom’s establishment of a subsidy policy for NB-IoT devices, and deployment of early-stage service deployments in multiple cities, coupled with the complete and mature development of midstream and downstream solutions in the communications industry, the NB-IoT business opportunities in mainland China are already In front of you.