A key finding that emerged amidst the push for greater industrialization and ongoing digital transformation is that a radical shift in approach to industrial solutions is needed for continued performance improvement from all angles. Incremental improvements that had delivered steady growth in past years will no longer suffice. In the same way that analog solutions gave way to digital solutions, wired connectivity solutions will have to give way to wireless connectivity solutions, and siloed approaches will have to give way to end-to-end, instantaneous approaches.
This is not to say that analog, wired connectivity, and solutions built with silo mindsets will simply vanish overnight. Quite the contrary. It is more likely that certain aspects in certain scenarios will render digital, wireless connectivity, and solutions built using an end-to-end, instantaneous approach as the solutions of choice due to their better match to need and overall cost-effectiveness.
As we progress through 2025, our approaches and the technology we choose will drastically change. Our decisions will be more carefully calculated. The pace at which technology is developing to support greater visibility, control, and performance—particularly in unmanned setups—is forcing executives around the world to urgently reevaluate their approach and choice of technologies.
5G in the wireless group of connectivity solutions that includes Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, and 4G is fast becoming the solution of choice where aspects such as throughput, latency, and the ability to handle data from a large number of devices spread over large areas are key considerations for successful outcomes in specialized, niche solutions. Incremental costs are traded off for better visibility, control, and security of solutions in private networks. These value adds have played a part in spurring the global growth of private 5G networks, which accounted for nearly half of all private network deployments in 2024 and is estimated to reach $7.42 billion by 2027 (based on GSA and Frost & Sullivan research, respectively).
China alone houses more than 40,000 private 5G networks with over 80% penetration of 80 out of China’s 97 national economic categories. Spectrum is an essential part of these deployments, but the approach at the global level is fragmented with possible licensing status being unlicensed, licensed, or shared. Where spectrum is shared with mobile operators, midbands N77 (3.7 GHz–4.2 GHz) and N78 (3.3 GHz–3.67 GHz) are the most common for private 5G networks, but all other globally allocated bands are also in use based on context. According to Frost & Sullivan, the industrial sector is leading the way with 5G technology incorporation and solutions are evolving rapidly to bridge the gap between IT and OT. The push in this direction is to achieve the necessary leap in efficiency to maintain or regain global competitiveness.
Over the past 5 years, 5G in China has been helping enterprises push boundaries in performance and productivity in their respective industries with 5G B2B applications. In 2024, these applications entered a new phase of growth based on a solid industry standards foundation with more than 150 5G converged application standards ready, backed by healthy cultivated ecosystems and powered by 5G-Advanced.
- Zhuhai Gree Group and China Pingmei Shenma have pioneered unmanned operations, improving performance and significantly reducing labor costs. At the Gaolan factory, the world’s largest 5G-Advanced native “lights-out” factory, production efficiency increased by 86% compared to traditional manufacturing benchmarks. By proactively making changes to its technology, process, management, and industry ecosystem, the factory has achieved flexible, intelligent, and green manufacturing. At the Liangbei mining site, the 5G-Advanced solution has enhanced safety and increased efficiency, e.g., by extending coverage by 65% and lowering costs by 30% compared to 5G mining application benchmarks. The site has achieved digital and refined mining management and visualized operations. Manufacturing and mining are top contributors to China’s economic development.
- Shanghai Metro and Langfang Thermal Power have pioneered 5G solution standards for their respective industries and commercialized the use of 5G positioning with the precision of 1-3m@90%. In metro tunnels, transport capacity scheduling has increased operational efficiency by 30%. At the exceptionally large area power plant, the solution monitors labor movement and issues alarms in real time (e.g., triggered by trespassing in hazardous areas, to ensure worker safety). With 5G intelligent risk inspection and 5G high-risk operation monitoring also in use at the plant, efficiency has improved, such as with a 20% increase in risk handling rate. The metro, serving nearly 30 million people in Shanghai, and the plant, the largest source of heat supply for the city of Langfang, both play vital roles in their city’s economic development.
5G in China is not just a local economic driver. It is qualified to become a global economic driver. The implications of viable, large-scale solutions being developed in a relatively low-cost labor market are undeniable. Lower-cost solutions are attractive to enterprises of all sizes, particularly small enterprises with smaller budgets to innovate, to drive a nation’s economic growth and achieve sustainability goals. What is brewing behind the Great Wall of China and increasingly behind rising tariffs has far-reaching consequences that cannot be ignored. Large-scale 5G application development working towards 70,000 private 5G networks is on a completely different scale altogether. By being open to Chinese technology, enterprises can reap the benefits of leveraging innovative, proven technology to become more efficient in more technologically advanced areas, such as manufacturing and mining, for better product positioning and cost structures.
Staying on the sidelines or going in the opposite direction by replacing expert resources with automation tools to manage low-cost labor, however, can risk the economic impact of more efficient competition, with higher cost base markets being impacted the most. Ultimately, 5G in China is poised to be a global change catalyst as it addresses the reality that unmanned operations will be the way forward, which will affect the world in a big way once unleashed.
