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On September 11th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the issuance of the “Notice on Promoting the Development of Mobile IoT towards ‘All Things Intelligent Connected'” (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Notice’). This aims to enhance the supply level of the mobile IoT industry, innovate empowerment capabilities, and increase the overall value of the industry, accelerating the transition of mobile IoT from ‘All Things Connected’ to ‘All Things Intelligent Connected’.
Mobile IoT is a new type of information infrastructure that uses mobile communication technology and networks as a carrier, achieving ubiquitous intelligent connections between people, machines, and things through multi-network collaboration. It is an important driving force for the digital transformation of the economy and society. According to relevant officials from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in August 2022, the number of mobile IoT terminal users in China surpassed that of mobile phone users for the first time, making China the first major economy in the world to achieve ‘more things than people’. At the same time, the high-quality development of mobile IoT in China faces challenges such as the need to optimize network coverage, breakthroughs in high-end industries, deeper industry applications, and enhancement of connection value. This requires guiding all parties in the industry to unite their efforts and accelerate the integration and development of mobile IoT with various industries.
The ‘Notice’ is based on the development rhythm of the mobile IoT industry and the current status of mobile IoT applications in various sectors, clarifying the development goals for mobile IoT: by 2027, a comprehensive ecological system of mobile IoT based on 4G and 5G, with high and low combinations, ubiquitous intelligence, and safe and reliable connections will be further improved; the 5G NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) network will achieve deep coverage in key scenarios; 5G RedCap (lightweight) will achieve coverage in cities at the county level and above nationwide, and extend coverage to key towns and rural areas; the number of mobile IoT terminal connections will strive to exceed 3.6 billion, with 4G/5G IoT terminal connections accounting for 95%; support the construction of more than five mobile IoT industrial clusters nationwide, and create more than ten mobile IoT industrial demonstration bases; cultivate a number of application fields with over 100 million connections and create several application fields with over ten million connections.
The ‘Notice’ outlines four main tasks: solidifying the foundation of the IoT network, which includes strengthening network planning and construction, and enhancing network intelligent connection capabilities; improving industrial innovation capabilities, which includes promoting the construction of standard systems and enhancing industrial supply capabilities; deepening intelligent integration applications, which includes promoting the digital transformation of industries, facilitating intelligent social governance, and assisting the intelligentization of people’s lives; and creating a favorable development environment, which includes optimizing value assessment methods, improving industry service levels, and perfecting security protection mechanisms.
It is worth mentioning that the ‘Notice’ explicitly proposes optimizing the value assessment methods for mobile IoT and promoting basic telecommunications enterprises to comprehensively assess the overall value of mobile IoT.
Notice from the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Promoting the Development of Mobile IoT towards ‘All Things Intelligent Connected’
Document No. 52 from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
To the Communication Administration Bureaus of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the industrial and information departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, China Telecom Group Co., Ltd., China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd., China Broadcasting Network Group Co., Ltd., China Tower Corporation Limited, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, and all relevant enterprises:
Mobile IoT is a new type of information infrastructure that uses mobile communication technology and networks as a carrier, achieving ubiquitous intelligent connections between people, machines, and things through multi-network collaboration. To thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, and to implement the relevant deployments of the ‘Overall Layout Plan for Digital China Construction’, further deepen the integration of mobile IoT with technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, enhance the supply level of the mobile IoT industry, innovate empowerment capabilities, and increase the overall value of the industry, accelerating the transition of mobile IoT from ‘All Things Connected’ to ‘All Things Intelligent Connected’, and assisting the digital transformation of industries and new industrialization, the following matters are notified:
By 2027, a comprehensive ecological system of mobile IoT based on 4G (including LTE-Cat1, which is the rate category 1 4G network) and 5G (including NB-IoT, Narrowband IoT; RedCap, lightweight) will be further improved. The 5G NB-IoT network will achieve deep coverage in key scenarios. The 5G RedCap will achieve coverage in cities at the county level and above nationwide, and extend coverage to key towns and rural areas. The number of mobile IoT terminal connections will strive to exceed 3.6 billion, with 4G/5G IoT terminal connections accounting for 95%. Support the construction of more than five mobile IoT industrial clusters nationwide, and create more than ten mobile IoT industrial demonstration bases. Cultivate a number of application fields with over 100 million connections and create several application fields with over ten million connections.
2. Solidifying the Foundation of the IoT Network
(1) Strengthening Network Planning and Construction. Basic telecommunications enterprises should carry out annual rolling planning for mobile IoT, moderately overbuilding mobile IoT networks based on demand. They should improve the deep coverage level of 5G NB-IoT in key areas such as municipal services, home, education, and agriculture as needed. Further increase the deployment of 5G RedCap, accelerate the opening of new 5G base stations while synchronously launching 5G RedCap, and support the upgrade of existing 5G base stations to 5G RedCap, promoting its application in industry virtual private networks. Strengthen network monitoring and optimization to improve network quality based on mobile IoT user demand.
(2) Enhancing Network Intelligent Connection Capabilities. Basic telecommunications enterprises should accelerate the exploration of artificial intelligence technology in the application deployment of mobile IoT networks, promoting the realization of intrinsic intelligence in network connections, resource management, and operation maintenance, enhancing the level of network intelligence. Strengthen adaptation to scenarios such as smart cities, low-altitude intelligence, and agricultural intelligence to better meet the business needs for high, medium, and low-speed, wide-area coverage, and uplink enhancement.
3. Enhancing Industrial Innovation Capabilities
(1) Promoting the Construction of Standard Systems. Industry standard organizations and basic telecommunications enterprises should strengthen the formulation of terminal standards, accelerate the unification of platform object model standards, enhance intelligent connection capabilities, and reduce the complexity of adaptation across the industrial chain. Encourage basic telecommunications enterprises to jointly formulate standards with leading enterprises in vertical industries, promoting the deep integration of mobile IoT across industries. Support various parties in the industry to participate in the formulation of international standards for 5G-Advanced (5G evolution), and to carry out research, standard formulation, and testing verification for technologies such as passive IoT, integrated sensing, 5G TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking), high-precision positioning, and satellite IoT. Formulate no less than 30 mobile IoT standards.
(2) Enhancing Industrial Supply Capabilities. Support basic telecommunications enterprises and specialized mobile IoT companies to leverage their industrial advantages, cultivate leading enterprises that master key resources and core capabilities, and form a resilient industrial pattern of collaboration between large, medium, and small enterprises across the supply chain. Encourage chip and module enterprises to accelerate technological innovation and industrialization. Basic telecommunications enterprises should strengthen the construction of IoT platforms, leverage the advantages of massive data, carry out innovative applications of artificial intelligence large models, and develop intelligent IoT products. Encourage basic telecommunications enterprises and internet enterprises to reasonably open IoT platform capabilities, lower development thresholds, and promote data collection and effective utilization. Support localities in building mobile IoT industrial clusters and creating public service platforms aimed at the development of the mobile IoT industry.
4. Deepening Intelligent Integration Applications
(1) Promoting the Digital Transformation of Industries. Basic telecommunications enterprises should strengthen collaboration with enterprises in industries such as manufacturing, transportation, and energy, promoting the integration of mobile IoT in fields like industrial manufacturing, transportation logistics, and smart grids, enhancing production efficiency and management levels. In the field of industrial internet, promote applications in typical models such as platform-based design and networked collaboration, meeting the business needs of key scenarios for ‘5G + Industrial Internet’, and facilitating the intelligent and digital transformation of manufacturing. In the field of smart manufacturing, accelerate applications in R&D, production, and management processes, enhancing supporting capabilities in human-machine interaction and intelligent scheduling, meeting the development needs of smart manufacturing. In the field of transportation logistics, carry out pilot applications for smart warehousing, smart postal services, etc., improving transportation efficiency and logistics service quality. In the field of smart grids, enhance applications in all aspects of new energy generation, digital transmission, intelligent substations, intelligent distribution, and intelligent electricity use, strengthening the ‘observable, measurable, and controllable’ capabilities of the power system.
(2) Promoting Intelligent Social Governance. Basic telecommunications enterprises should leverage their industrial and technological advantages to support localities in promoting the large-scale application of mobile IoT in areas such as municipal services, environmental protection, and emergency management, enhancing public service capabilities and the level of social governance. In the field of municipal services, promote the networking and intelligent transformation of municipal public facilities and buildings, deploying intelligent water management, smart metering, and smart security perception terminals and city-level IoT platforms. In the field of environmental monitoring, use mobile IoT technology to achieve information collection, storage, and traceability, improving the accuracy and reliability of environmental monitoring data, and promoting ecological environment protection and governance. In the field of emergency management, integrate with the production, procurement, storage, allocation, and transportation of emergency supplies to improve the efficiency and precision of emergency material management.
(3) Assisting in the Intelligentization of People’s Lives. Basic telecommunications enterprises should deepen cooperation with automotive, medical, and home appliance enterprises, promoting the application of mobile IoT in fields such as intelligent connected vehicles, healthcare, and smart homes, facilitating a more convenient and comfortable life for people. In the field of intelligent connected vehicles, promote applications in scenarios such as driving monitoring and autonomous driving, achieving information exchange and sharing, complex environment perception, intelligent decision-making, and collaborative control functions, encouraging innovations in 5G RedCap vehicle applications. In the field of smart healthcare, expand intelligent applications in terminal devices such as blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors, and wearables, conducting innovations in smart healthcare devices and applications, improving health management levels and health data analysis capabilities. In the field of smart homes, promote integrated applications in smart terminals such as lighting control, door locks, robots, and security monitoring, enhancing the overall intelligent service capabilities of homes.
5. Creating a Favorable Development Environment
(1) Optimizing Value Assessment Methods. Basic telecommunications enterprises should comprehensively assess the overall value of mobile IoT, reflecting the connection value of mobile IoT cards, hardware terminals, software platforms, and the driving value for growth in computing and storage services. They should optimize income statistical standards, incorporating hardware, platform services, and other business carriers of IoT terminals into communication service revenues, and including the driving business revenues into the statistical standards of mobile IoT services, scientifically and reasonably reflecting the value of mobile IoT services, creating a favorable situation for the healthy development of the mobile IoT industry chain.
(2) Improving Industry Service Levels. Basic telecommunications enterprises should balance the relationship between industry development and user rights protection, comprehensively consider the connection, transition, and other works of 4G/5G and 2G/3G mobile IoT services, provide various mobile IoT user services, and meet users’ business selection needs. Improve user complaint handling mechanisms, optimize business processing flows, and enhance industry service quality. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology should organize basic telecommunications enterprises to map out the coverage of mobile IoT networks and publish network coverage information to assist industry enterprises in innovation and business expansion.
(3) Perfecting Security Protection Mechanisms. Basic telecommunications enterprises should strengthen the construction of security protection capabilities for mobile IoT, continuously deepen security risk assessments for mobile IoT. Strengthen the security management of IoT cards, strictly implement security control measures for IoT cards, and enhance the security of IoT modules, terminals, and other devices. Strengthen data classification and grading protection, guide data processors to enhance data security protection and risk monitoring and early warning capabilities, and regularly conduct data security risk assessments to continuously improve data security protection levels. Based on national security, scientifically plan the construction of IoT networks and business development, and standardize the implementation of the ‘three synchronizations’ requirement.
(1) Strengthening Element Guarantees. Local communication management bureaus and industrial and information departments should collaborate with local relevant industry authorities to introduce supportive policies regarding network construction, industry applications, and industrial development, forming a joint effort for advancement. Leverage the role of national industry-finance cooperation platforms to encourage financial institutions to provide diversified financing support for mobile IoT enterprises and projects. Utilize the roles of basic telecommunications enterprises, industry alliances, and research institutions to conduct vocational training and talent certification, cultivating relevant talents in mobile IoT.
(2) Conducting Monitoring and Evaluation. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology should research and establish a monitoring index system for the development of mobile IoT, carry out network capability testing for mobile IoT, build a coordination platform for mobile IoT applications, and promote solutions to issues such as supply-demand mismatches. Basic telecommunications enterprises should strengthen network construction, optimization, and operational work to enhance network quality and service. Support the summary and evaluation of the ‘All Things Intelligent Connected’ city development, promoting the empowerment of local development by mobile IoT.
(3) Strengthening Communication and Promotion. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will continue to organize the collection of typical cases of mobile IoT, selecting a batch of technologically advanced, effective, and promising application cases. Strengthen the publicity and promotion of typical cases to create a demonstration effect and play a role in empowerment. Support the mobile IoT development team to carry out related industry activities and build a number of mobile IoT technology and application innovation centers to promote cooperation, communication, and result transformation.
The General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology