5G goal: Running in 2019

China aims to take global lead in wireless tech, vice-minister says

China aims to have commercial use of 5G technology up and running in 2019, according to a senior official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Qiao Yueshan, deputy director of the ministry's information technology department, said telecom carriers - including China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom - will start to install medium and low-frequency bands in 2019 and 2020, while some regions are expected to test high-frequency bands in 2022 at the earliest.