China to launch ‘the world’s first 5G railway station’ with Huawei

China to unveil ‘the world’s first 5G railway station’ with Huawei technology as the West shun the tech firm over spying fears

  • Network will be installed in Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station by September
  • Passenger would be able to to download a 2GB HD film in less than 20 seconds 
  • News comes as supplier Huawei undergoes global scrutiny over security risks
  • The U.S. says Beijing might use Chinese tech companies to gather intelligence
  • The firm’s technology has been banned in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia 
  • Huawei and Chinese foreign ministry have denied the accusations from the U.S.
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China is set to launch what it bills as ‘the world’s first 5G railway station’ this year with the technology from Huawei.

The news comes as the tech firm is blocked and scrutinised by the West over fears that it is spying on its users for Beijing.

A ‘super-fast’ 5G network will be fitted to the existing Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, which is one of Asia’s busiest traffic hubs and handles some 60 million passengers a year, according to China Daily.


The indoor 5G network will be fitted to the existing Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station


The network is built upon the ‘5G digital indoor system’ developed by Chinese firm Huawei

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A so-called ‘5G digital indoor system’ is due to be fully installed in the train station in western Shanghai by September. 

A few ‘experience spots’ have already been set up in the station’s waiting hall to let passengers try the network. 

The system is developed by Huawei and was unveiled in Shanghai today. It has been chosen to serve the traffic hub by China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunication corporation.


Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station (pictured) handles some 60 million passengers a year

It would allow passengers to download a 2GB high-definition film in less than 20 seconds, according to Huawei. In comparison, it would take three minutes and 20 seconds to download the same film on a standard 4G network. 

Praising Huawei’s product, newspaper China Daily said the firm’s 5G system ‘is undoubtedly the best choice for 5G commercial deployment’.

Huawei, the biggest global maker of switching gear for phone and internet companies, has undergone global scrutiny over allegations from the United States that it may carry out technological theft and espionage for China – a claim Huawei and Beijing have both firmly denied. 

WHAT IS 5G? 

The evolution of the G system started in 1980 with the invention of the mobile phone which allowed for analogue data to be transmitted via phone calls.   

Digital came into play in 1991 with 2G and SMS and MMS capabilities were launched. 

Since then, the capabilities and carrying capacity for the mobile network has increased massively. 

More data can be transferred from one point to another via the mobile network quicker than ever.

5G is expected to be launched in 2020 and will be up to 1,000 times faster than the currently used 4G. 

Whilst the jump from 3G to 4G was most beneficial for mobile browsing and working, the step to 5G will be so fast they become almost real-time. 

That means mobile operations will be just as fast as office-based internet connections.

Potential uses for 5g include: 

  • Simultaneous translation of several languages in a party conference call 
  • Self-driving cars can stream movies, music and navigation information from the cloud
  • A full length 8GB film can be downloaded in six seconds. 

5G is expected to be so quick and efficient it is possible it could start the end of wired connections.  

By the end of 2020, industry estimates claim 50 billion devices will be connected to 5G.


The evolution of from 1G to 5G. The predicted speed of 5G is more than 1Gbps – 1,000 times greater than the existing speed of 4G and could be implemented in laptops of the future 

Washington says that Beijing might use Chinese tech companies to gather intelligence about foreign countries. The United States has been putting pressure on allies to shun networks supplied by Huawei, threatening the company’s access to global markets for next-generation wireless gear. 

The company faces outright bans from being involved in the rollout of 5G networks in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, with Canada and the United Kingdom still undecided on their approach. 

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested late last year in Vancouver on U.S. charges related to Iran, a development that has set off a political firestorm between China, the United States and Canada. 


Huawei’s system  has been chosen to serve the railway station by China Mobile (file photo)


Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei (pictured) last month rejected claims his company was used by the Chinese government to spy after the U.S. pressured on allies to shun Huawei technologies

China’s government on Monday accused the United States of trying to block its industrial development by alleging that Chinese telecom gear is a cyber security threat.

And in a potential blow to the U.S. claims, British media reported that the country’s intelligence agencies have found it is possible to limit the risks of using Chinese-made networks.

Huawei’s founder said last month it would reject any government demands to disclose confidential information about foreign customers.

The U.S. government is trying to ‘fabricate an excuse for suppressing the legitimate development’ of Chinese enterprises, said the spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, Geng Shuang.

Geng accused the United States of using ‘political means’ to interfere in economic activity, ‘which is hypocritical, immoral and unfair bullying.’


Meng Wanzhou (pictured), Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested late last year in Vancouver under the request of the United States

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, speaking this week in Germany, urged European allies to take seriously ‘the threat’ he said was posed by Chinese networks maker Huawei as they look for partners to build the new 5G mobile networks.

Pence said Huawei and other Chinese telecom equipment makers provide Beijing with ‘access to any data that touches their network or equipment.’ He appealed to European governments to ‘reject any enterprise that would compromise the integrity of our communications technology or our national security systems.’

The United States has released no evidence to support its accusations against Huawei and other tech companies. That has prompted some industry analysts to suggest Washington is trying to use security concerns to handicap Chinese competitors.

‘China has not and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide foreign countries’ information for the Chinese government by installing backdoors or other actions that violate local laws,’ said Geng.

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