(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released a guidance document on information infrastructure construction projects for next year that directs that fifth-generation (5G) networks be built in at least five cities to form a continuous coverage.

Focusing on municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capitals and cities in the Pearl River and Yangtze River estuaries and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the construction and application demonstration projects for a 5G network direct the construction of at least 50 5G base stations in each city to provide continuous coverage in dense urban areas, per the directive, as Beijing Morning Post reported today.

The circular also proposed several standard requirements for the construction of a 5G network in each city, including at least 500 terminals connected to the entire network and data business provided be to users with 100 million bits per second or above internet service, as well as the development of the typical 5G application businesses of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

China's 5G technologies are entering the commercial research and development phase within a standardized setting. China will complete the third phase of 5G testing by the end of next year, including the research and development, verification, and upstream and downstream industry product testing before their commercialization, per a work plan the state industry and information technology ministry has issued. Developing the 5G network has thus migrated from the laboratory to a specific business environment, with the feasibility and applicability as the key future considerations, since the 5G network industrial chain will further expand, per an inside source's analysis.