On 5G and COVID-19: What are the Facts? [Part 1]

Verizon's new 5G network is capable of pretty impressive speeds. Source CNET

This article is an effort to share the facts about 5G, its deployment, and its rumored connection with COVID-19 and human health. It is the first part of a two-part series on the subject. Here, we shall discuss about what 5G is, the 5G radio wave types, 5G development, deployment and testing, and we shall also share the facts about whether Wuhan was actually the first 5G deployment and testing site in China. Without beating about the bush, let's get right to it.

What is 5G?
According to IT infrastructure lead engineer, Kelechi Emenike, 5G is the 5th generation of digital wireless network communications technology that allows the transmission of data with more throughput or bandwidth (bandwidth is the maximum rate of data transfer across a given path or connection). Wireless communications networks communicate via radio waves which are constantly propagating at a particular frequency, and are detectable by a PC or a cellular device that is capable of communicating at that frequency.

This means that with the 5G technology, computer devices such as PCs, smartphones, tablets, and basically any other device that is 5G-enabled can carry, transfer or communicate data at a much faster rate than what is currently obtainable.

It was preceeded by 4.5G (better known as 4G LTE), 4G, 3.5G, 3G, 2G (EDGE), and 1G. All these use radio waves too, but the main difference between them are their bandwidths and frequencies. 1G had an analog bandwidth type and operating frequency of 800MHz, while 5G has a digital bandwidth type (upto 1 gigabytes per second, but will more commonly deliver about 100-400 megabytes per second) and has operating frequencies as high as 72GHz.

Remember however, that the larger the bandwidth and frequency, the more the data each technology can carry at a time; but the shorter the distance it can cover in its reach. So, 5G has the shortest reach of all other ones.

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5G Radio wave Types
The 5G technology has been developed to propagate via three radio wave types: millimeter waves, mid-band and low-band. The mid-band and low-band are simply an upgrade of the existing 4G; but the millimeter wave 5G is a whole new world of technological speed and pinpoint accuracy.

According to Sciencedirect.com, millimeter waves are electromagnetic radio waves, typically defined to lie within the frequency range of 30–300GHz. They are also called extremely high frequency radio waves with much shorter wavelengths (from 1-10mm; hence they are called millimeter waves). However, of the 30-300GHz capacity of millimeter waves, only 24-72GHz is deployed for 5G millimeter waves. Their short wavelength is the reason for their very short reach. But they can deliver bandwidth (download speed) of up to 1Gbit/s, which is seen as supersonic fast! Imagine downloading a movie or file of up to 8GB in size. This means that you would need barely 10 seconds for a complete download if you are connected to a 5G millimeter wave network on your phone or PC.

5G mid-band radio waves are currently the most widely deployed as most countries around the world are using this spectrum to build out their initial 5G networks, according to Forbes. Mid-band frequencies range between 2.4GHz to 4.2GHz, and download speed is anywhere between 100Mbit/s and 400Mbit/s. Bit, according to Wikipedia, in the lab and occasionally in the field, speeds can go over a gigabyte per second.

5G low-band propagates on much lower frequencies. In the US, T-mobile 600MHz low-band 5G, while AT&T has launched 850MHz. Download speeds are as low as 25Mbit/s, and if higher, are generally not upto 100Mbit/s.

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5G Development, Testing and Deployment 
According to online tech site, rcrwireless, China’s 5G R&D tests started in 2016 and involved three phases: key technologies testing, the verification of technology and solution, and 5G system verification. The reader should note that it is unclear whether any form of biological test of safety was conducted as a part of any of these stages.

Data speeds from benchmarking tests on Verizon's 5G network in Chicago, just a day after launch. Notice the variation in speeds. Source: CNET

In 2013, the IMT-2020 (5G) promotion group was jointly established by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, based on the original IMT-Advanced Promotion Group. In China, it is the primary platform through which 5G research and international exchange and cooperation is conducted. Network operators who participated in the Group are China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom and Japanese telecoms operator NTT DoCoMo.

The IMT-2020 Promotion Group completed the initial phase of its trial program in 2016. That phase included testing wireless technologies including massive multiple-input-multiple-output, novel multiple access, new waveforms, advanced coding, ultra-dense network implementations and high-frequency communications. The trial phase also included network slicing, edge computing and network function reconstruction. The second phase of the national 5G tests were fully completed in 2017.

China Mobile, whose signal tower is pictured above, was one of four Chinese operators to be awarded local 5G licences on Thursday. Source: Reuters

China Telecom, one of the listed companies of Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation, launched its first 5G testing site in the Chinese tech city, Shenzhen, in early October, 2017. This site is close to the Shenzhen Software Industry Base (more like the "Silicon Valley" of China). The Chinese giant later on went ahead to expand it's pilot program to 5 more cities, Lanzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong’an new district by launching more 5G test sites in those places.

As at October 2018, IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group said it had completed a third phase of non-standalone trials. Tests in this phase included both indoor and outdoor trials, core network and base station functions. Huawei, ZTE and the China Information and Communication Technologies Group completed trials using the 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz frequency bands, according to reports. The Group said that more than 20 companies participated in the third phase of China’s 5G trials, including Ericsson, Nokia Shanghai Bell, Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel and Rohde & Schwarz.

In June 2019, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially issued commercial licenses for the launch of commercial 5G networks in the country to China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, and state-owned broadcaster China Broadcasting Network.

You may be wondering how Huawei came into the picture, especially since almost everything you hear about 5G deployment today is linked to Huawei. Well, Huawei is a telecommunications equipment maker, not a network operator. So, they did not develop the 5G technology. However, they are vendors to China Mobile (a major developer of 5G).  Essentially, while China Mobile developed the technology itself, Huawei built the devices or equipment that could use it, and are major marketers of the technology worldwide. So, in a nutshell, Huawei is the major maker and marketer of 5G equipment worldwide.

According to online tech site, rcrwireless, as at June 2019 when China Telecom got the commercial license for 5G, Huawei said in response to the license grant that it was ready to support China’s 5G rollout. The vendor said it had already inked 46 5G commercial contracts in 30 countries, shipping more than 100,000 5G base stations at the time.

In addition, another Chinese telecommunications equipment maker and vendor, ZTE, also signified interest in working with Chinese mobile network operators to promote the technology within and outside China saying, “ZTE has been proactively participating in the commercial deployments and construction of 5G networks in China, and will work closely with industry partners to actively promote the application of 5G services".

China Unicom's 5G brand is unveiled during the 5G Innovative Development Forum in Shanghai on April 23, 2019. Source: China Unicom

In its first tender held in 2019, China Telecom selected Huawei, ZTE, Nokia and Ericsson as vendors for the rollout of its 5G technology. According to rcrwireless, Huawei won 57.3% of the value of contracts across 28 provinces, with ZTE taking 28.7%, Ericsson 11.5% and China Information Communication Technologies 2.6%. You can now see why Huawei is the loudest name worldwide when it comes to 5G equipment manufacturing and sale.

Already, the Chinese Government has announced that it has started working on the development of 6G Technology.

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Was Wuhan a Development Site for 5G Technology? 
As early as August 2019, the local government of Hubei province listed a number of venues with 5G coverage. All three largest Chinese mobile network giants: China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, had 5G test sites in Wuhan as at that time.

Huawei builds 5G network at Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital in January 2020

In early 2018, the Chinese government had authorized carriers to test 5G technology in major cities across the country. This was the third phase of their 5G R&D testing. And under this initiative, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom all announced plans to deploy testing equipment in major cities, including Wuhan. Other pilot cities included Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guiyang, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, and some others. According to Chinese media organization, Xinhua, China Mobile had announced that as many as 300 5G base stations had been built in Hubei alone as at the second quarter of 2018 for the purpose of testing, with Wuhan being one of the first pilot cities.

5G experience centers were built. And visitors to the centers could learn knowledge about 5G technology, were allowed to experience 5G networks and high-tech products such as VR glasses, robotic arms and robots. And they also learn about the close connection of 5G products in their daily lives. As at that time, 5G technology was applied in various fields in the city of Wuhan, including intelligent education, intelligent medical treatment, driverless vehicles, intelligent tourism, smart transportation and intelligent enterprises.

A volunteer operates a remote-controlled disinfection robot to disinfect a residential area amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 16, 2020. Source: CNBC

Wuhan, which is the largest city and capital city of China's Hubei province is also the most populous city in Central China. With a population of 11 million, it is China's 9th most populous city. The city is considered to be the political, economic, financial, commercial, cultural, and educational center of Central China.

According to Wikipedia, Wuhan has been a traditional manufacturing hub for decades, it is also one of the areas promoting modern industrial changes in China. The city consists of three national development zones, four scientific and technological development parks, over 350 research institutes, 1,656 high tech enterprises, numerous enterprise incubators, and investments from 230 Fortune Global 500 firms. It produced GDP of US$22.4 billion in 2018.

Chinese media organization, Xinhua, reports that in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, Huawei provided support to the city by building a 5G base station at the Houshenshan Hospital, which was a dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Wuhan. According to them, a 200-member team completed the construction of the hospital's 5G network facility within 3 days (from initial design plans to laying the Fibre optic cables). There are misconceived reports that it was the hospital itself that was built within 3 days. That is false.

To be continued....

In Part 2 (final part) of this series, we'll share the facts about how harmful radio wave radiations really are, and how revolutionarily the deployment of the 5G technology will change human living within the next decade. We spoke with scientists, telecoms, IT and medical experts about the various issues, and we shall share all that with you in Part 2 which will be published tomorrow morning, April 14, 2020.
Watch out!



Chukwubuikem Paul Anunaso is a civil/structural engineer in Lagos, Nigeria. He is also the editor of The Paul Anunaso Blog, and can be reached at anunaso.cp@gmail.com

Kelechi C. Emenike, an IT infrastructure lead engineer in Lagos, Nigeria contributed to this article.