How many 5G base stations will China build in 2025?

China plans to construct over 4.5 million 5G base stations in 2025 while introducing additional policy and financial incentives to support industries expected to shape the next decade, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced during its annual work conference.

What are 5G base stations?

5G base stations are categorized into micro base stations, macro base stations, and indoor sub-systems based on their transmit power and coverage. As 5G operates at a higher frequency than 4G, its coverage capability is lower and the signal penetration is poor, causing significant signal attenuation.

Is 5G suitable for building large-scale macro base stations?

The 5G base station can be roughly divided into a macro base station, a micro base station, and a room subsystem according to the coverage range. The coverage capacity of 5G is much lower compared to 4G due to its high frequency. Thus, 5G is not suitable for building large-scale macro base stations (Zhou, 2017).

How much does a 5G base station weigh?

The equipment weights of a macro base station and a micro base station are 1.04±0.03 and 0.3 ± 0.01 tons, respectively. At present, most 5G base stations are upgraded or constructed based on 4G base stations in China and ca. 97% of the towers are constructed based on existing site resources (Meng, 2020).

How much carbon does a 5G base station produce?

Previous research has estimated that a single 5G base station will produce approximately 30.2 ~ 33.5 tCO 2 eq throughout its life cycle (Ding et al., 2022; Guo et al., 2022a). Consequently, the carbon emissions from 5G base stations in China in 2021 amounted to approximately 49.2 MtCO 2 eq.

Are 5G base stations sustainable?

However, due to their high radio frequency and limited coverage, the construction and operation of 5G base stations can lead to significant energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. To address this challenge, scholars have focused on developing sustainable 5G base stations.