Recently, many users have noticed that the signal identifier in the upper right corner of their phone has changed from "5G" to "5G-A. With the improvement of infrastructure deployment, 5G-A network deployment has become very widespread, with popular commercial districts, main roads, large venues, subways, cruise ships, tertiary hospitals, popular scenic spots, etc. within reach of 5G-A network. Although the signal identifier has been changed to 5G-A, the reporter contacted the customer service of China United Network Communications Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Unicom") and learned that in order to truly enjoy the network speed of 5G-A, three conditions need to be met: first, the user's phone supports 5G-A, second, the 5G-A data package is activated, and third, the phone is within the coverage range of the 5G-A base station. Compared to 5G, the most significant innovation of 5G-A lies in the qualitative change of "ultra fast experience" - the peak downlink speed of ordinary 5G networks can reach 1Gbps (gigabit level), while 5G-A directly pushes this indicator to 10Gbps (gigabit level), achieving a tenfold leap forward. For users with low internet speed requirements, the activation of 5G-A is not necessary, but for fields such as drones and intelligent driving, the coverage of 5G-A is the key to industrial development. Recently, reporters have conducted on-site visits and learned that commercial projects promoted by 5G-A have entered people's lives. Empowering Multi Scene Applications Recently, the reporter experienced the VR entertainment project "Star Trek" located in Shougang Park, Shijingshan, Beijing. The 8K ultra high definition images and zero lag interactive experience presented were impressive. The technical provider of this project is Yaozai (Shandong) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. The company's CTO Ma Yuguang told reporters that in traditional 4G network environments, high-definition VR games often experience screen lag due to rendering delays and transmission bottlenecks. However, 5G-A network, with its powerful performance, can support smooth rendering and real-time transmission of 8K resolution from all angles, significantly reducing user visual latency and dizziness. As an evolutionary form of 5G technology, 5G-A has achieved multidimensional leaps in capacity carrying, speed breakthrough, latency compression, positioning accuracy, connection stability, and other dimensions, building a stronger digital transmission channel. Its data throughput capacity has skyrocketed from the gigabit level in the early commercial stage of 5G to the 10 gigabit level. It can not only provide a high bandwidth, low latency, and highly reliable communication base for cutting-edge applications such as Extended Reality (XR) and naked eye 3D, but also has the potential to promote the widespread implementation of a billion yuan IoT ecosystem. Taking the field of intelligent driving as an example, 5G-A is reconstructing the technology map of autonomous driving with core technological advantages such as nanosecond latency, massive device access, and sub meter positioning. Through deep integration with Beidou/GPS satellite navigation and ground base stations, 5G-A can achieve vehicle positioning accuracy exceeding centimeter level thresholds, accurately empowering application scenarios such as automatic parking and highway full scene autonomous driving. Wang Kai, Vice President of Mogujialian Information Technology Co., Ltd., told reporters that in typical scenarios of vehicle road collaboration, vehicles need to complete the full loop of environmental perception, decision-making planning, and control execution within 10 milliseconds. The unique ultra-low latency characteristics of 5G-A network can ensure that vehicles receive real-time traffic signal dynamics, obstacle warning and other key information, and build a safety barrier for collision prevention. The low altitude economy industry will enter an explosive cycle from 2023, which coincides with the resonance effect of the commercialization process of 5G-A technology. 5G-A has built a safe and efficient digital sky for the drone industry through technological innovation in communication, perception, positioning, and regulation, significantly improving operational efficiency and industrial application boundaries. Tian Min, the brand leader of Beijing Zhuoyi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., told reporters: "The 5G-A's 10 gigabit downlink speed and millisecond delay guarantee can support real-time transmission of 4K high-definition video streams and multispectral imaging data carried by drones, providing an intelligent technology base for low altitude economy. Through the integration of 5G-A sensing technology and deep collaboration with AI, the application of drones in smart city management, three-dimensional traffic inspection and other fields can be further promoted. ”With the acceleration of 5G-A commercialization, emerging industries such as intelligent driving and low altitude economy are entering a golden period of development, and the communication equipment industry is also facing historic development opportunities. ZTE Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "ZTE") disclosed in a recent investor exchange event that "at the 2025 Mobile World Congress, ZTE teamed up with Yushu Technology and Sichuan Tianlian to empower robots with intelligence through ZTE's 5G-A, cloud collaboration, large-scale modeling and other technologies, showcasing application scenarios such as robot space satellite maintenance, human-machine interaction, and gift delivery. ”The deployment of 5G-A has been intensifying, and the commercial process of 5G has officially launched since November 1, 2019. According to the technological evolution blueprint, by 2025, we will enter the deepening stage of 5G-A, which focuses on the comprehensive improvement of 5G performance, especially strengthening technical support for cutting-edge scenarios such as communication perception integration, artificial intelligence integration, and non terrestrial networks (NTNs). In order to enable faster and stronger 5G-A to enter thousands of households and empower various industries, communication operators have already made active layouts. In terms of coverage, in recent years, the coverage area of 5G-A networks has continued to expand. In March 2024, China Mobile Limited (hereinafter referred to as "China Mobile") officially announced the first batch of 100 5G-A network commercial cities and announced plans to expand to over 300 cities nationwide by 2024, building the world's largest 5G-A commercial network. According to the 2024 annual report disclosed by China Mobile, in 2024, China Mobile built the world's first large-scale commercial 5G-A network, with RedCap (lightweight) covering all cities across the country, actively promoting scenario based pilot and application of technologies such as integrated sensing, wireless network AI applications, and passive Internet of Things. The financial report disclosed by China Telecom Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as "China Telecom") shows that in 2024, China Telecom will continue to strengthen its 5G-A strategic layout, deploying about 70000 stations in 121 cities and Redcap covering over 200 cities; The evolution and upgrading of 5G networks are steadily advancing with the deployment of 5G-A networks. China Unicom also accelerated the commercial scale of 5G-A last year, deploying carrier aggregation in 300 cities to achieve ultra high speed rates of 10 Gigabit downlink and 1 Gigabit uplink, and upgrading RedCap in 150 cities to achieve full frequency band and full standard applications. Currently, all three major telecommunications operators have revealed their plans for 5G-A deployment this year. China Mobile announced that it will invest nearly 10 billion yuan this year to further expand the deployment of 5G wireless network AI applications and achieve intelligent transformation of over 400000 base stations; China Telecom will launch 5G-A experience activities for friendly customers from February 10, 2025 to the end of the year. The first batch of experiences will be conducted in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shaanxi and other places, and will gradually expand to more regions in the future; In February of this year, China Unicom officially released the "5G-A Innovation Action Plan", which stated that by 2025, 5G-A services will be fully commercialized in the main urban areas of 39 key cities, and business deployment will be completed in core areas of over 300 cities. At the policy level, support for the implementation of 5G-A applications continues to increase in various regions. Since 2024, Shandong, Chongqing, Liaoning and other places have successively launched 5G-A network construction and application demonstration projects. Among them, the Shandong Provincial Administration of Communications issued an implementation plan in March this year, proposing that by the end of 2025, the total number of 5G base stations in the province will reach 270000, and key application areas will achieve continuous coverage of 5G-A networks. 5G RedCap (lightweight 5G) technology will be fully deployed in urban areas at or above the county level. The Henan Provincial Administration of Communications also announced in March this year that the "5G-A Low altitude Intelligent Connection Innovation Solution Empowering Urban Intelligent Blood Station Construction" project, jointly implemented by China Unicom, Yunhuan Network Connected UAV Technology Co., Ltd., and ZTE in Anyang City, Henan Province, won the "Best Mobile Smart City Innovation Award" at the 2025 Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO) released by the authoritative organization in the mobile communication industry, GSMA, at the 2025 World Mobile Communication Conference. Next, the information and communication industry in Henan Province will further expand the innovative exploration of 5G-A technology in low altitude economy, urban governance, security inspection and other scenarios. It is reported that by 2025, the information and communication industry will push 5G-A further towards the stage of full-scale commercial use, seeking new leaps in key technologies such as passive IoT and integrated sensing, and initiating pre research on 6G network technology standards. CCID Consulting, a subsidiary of China Electronics Information Industry Development Research Institute, released the "CCID Consulting Key Industry Implementation Tool Book for the 15th Five Year Plan -5G-A" at the end of last year. It is estimated that during the 15th Five Year Plan period, the number of 5G-A users in China is expected to approach 1.3 billion, accounting for more than 50% of the total global 5G-A users, and network coverage will achieve a dual leap in depth and breadth. (New Society)