• Five Chinese government bodies have opened a pilot for industrial 5G standalone private networks in sectors including manufacturing, transport, and energy
  • Approved projects can deploy dedicated 5G base stations, core networks and edge systems, but spectrum use remains subject to radio-frequency licensing

The fact

Five Chinese government bodies led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology opened a pilot programme for industrial 5G standalone private networks under a notice published on 15 June. Light Reading reported on the programme on 2 September.

The scheme supports large industrial enterprises in sectors including raw materials, equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, electronic information, energy and transport. The government defines an industrial 5G standalone private network as an enterprise-specific network in which the industrial company leads construction of key infrastructure, including the access and core networks, and which can operate without relying on a public mobile network.

Pilot infrastructure can include dedicated 5G base stations, core networks and edge computing, integrated where required with industrial optical networks, Ethernet and other factory-network technologies. Applicants may be individual industrial companies or consortiums involving telecom operators, equipment suppliers and solution providers.

The model remains subject to government approval. Pilot applicants must obtain the required radio-frequency authorisation, and approved projects run for two years, with a progress report required after the first year.

The assessment

The pilot gives industrial companies a larger role in building the network itself. Instead of depending entirely on infrastructure operated through a public mobile network, an approved enterprise can lead deployment of the access network and core while adding edge computing and management systems around its own production requirements.

That shifts more network planning and operating responsibility into the industrial project, but it does not remove the regulatory dependency. Spectrum still requires authorisation, and each pilot must pass the application and approval process before deployment. An enterprise therefore has to plan the physical network and its operating model alongside the permissions needed to use the radio frequencies.

For BTW readers, the pilot moves more of the 5G architecture inside the industrial project while leaving spectrum and pilot approval under state control. The first approved deployments will show how much responsibility industrial companies actually take for building and operating these networks, and where telecom operators remain involved.

What to watch

The first pilot approvals will show which industrial companies and sectors adopt the model and whether projects are led directly by enterprises or through consortiums with telecom operators and suppliers. Frequency licences, base-station and core deployments, and the required one-year progress reports will provide the clearest evidence of how the model works in practice.