China starts commercial trial of 5G inter-network roaming service

China on Wednesday announced the launch of the world’s first commercial 5G inter-network roaming service trial at the conference of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2023.

The WTISD is celebrated every year on May 17. The conference this year was held in Hefei, capital city of east China’s Anhui Province, with the theme of “empowering the least developed countries through information and communication technologies.”

The first commercial 5G inter-network roaming will be put into trial use in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, allowing users to access 5G services of other operators when outside the range of their operators’ 5G network.

In areas where 5G roaming services are provided, users can use terminals that support 5G roaming without changing their SIM card or phone number, and directly use the 5G roaming service without paying additional fees.

Promotes large-scale 5G application, plans for 6G

In the future, China will promote the large-scale application of 5G and the industrial internet, and plan for future industries such as 6G, quantum information and brain-like intelligence, said Zhang Yunming, vice minister of industry and information technology during the conference.

The innovative application of 5G and the industrial internet has unique advantages in improving the efficiency of resource allocation and facilitating economic circulation at home and abroad, according to Zhang.

The next generation of information and communication technologies has become an important engine for the country’s high-quality development, said Zhang.

“We will deepen the integration of 5G and the industrial internet to support the development of high-end, intelligent and green manufacturing industry,” he added. Xinhua