China Mobile 5G Innovation Center Hong Kong Open Lab Grand Opening

China Mobile Hong Kong announces 5G deployment plan upon awarding the Trial Permit for 5G Test

HONG KONG, March 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- China Mobile 5G Innovation Center Hong Kong Open Lab was officially opened today.  Miss Eliza Lee Man-ching, Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Creative Industries) was invited as the Guest-of-Honour to officiate at the opening ceremony together with Dr. Li Feng, Chairman of China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK). 

CMHK also announced on the occasion the company's award of the "Trial Permit for 5G Test" by the Office of Communications Authority (OFCA), as well as the commencement of lab tests with 5G commercial equipment at the assigned 5G trial spectrum in the second quarter.  CMHK is committed to proactively exploring 5G mobile service applications for the promotion of 5G mobile network development in Hong Kong.

Aimed at leading the 5G development, China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC, "the Group"), the parent company of CMHK, had established a 5G Innovation Center in February 2016 to strengthen collaboration with the telecom and vertical industry partners to jointly achieve three major goals: (1) Promote the maturity of 5G communication capabilities, (2) Incubate converged innovation applications and products, and (3) Build a win-win cross-industry ecosystem.

Currently, the 5G Innovation Center has a total of 112 partners, including 57 vertical industry partners, to focus on six major areas of study, including Communication Capabilities, Internet of Things, Internet of Vehicles, Industrial Internet, Cloud Robot, and AR/VR.  In addition, 17 joint innovation projects have been carried out in 2017, as well as the output of research reports on five innovative applications and demonstration of six innovative applications.

China Mobile Group has planned to set up twelve Open Labs for the 5G Innovation Center in China and abroad to promote the implementation and achievement of joint innovative projects.  The twelve Open Labs are respectively located in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan, Hong Kong, Silicon Valley and Sweden.  Seven Open Labs have been opened, while the Hong Kong Open Lab opened today is the eighth one.  Leveraging on its geographical advantages, the Hong Kong Open Lab at MITA Centre in Kwai Chung will serve as a display window and promotion platform to showcase the Group's achievements of the 5G Innovation Center, as well as providing a test network environment for trials of the innovative applications developed by local business partners.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Miss Eliza Lee Man-ching, Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Creative Industries), said: "I welcome the establishment of the China Mobile 5G Innovation Center Open Lab in Hong Kong. 5G is a major trend in the global mobile communication development.  With the Government acting as the "facilitator", coupled with the concerted efforts of the industry, Hong Kong is now well poised for the commercial promotions and applications of 5G services in 2020.   I hope that China Mobile Group will continue its vigorous development of 5G technologies and IoT application technologies for Hong Kong people with more and better services and products.  Finally, I sincerely wish the China Mobile 5G Innovation Center every success with many innovative results."

Dr. Li Feng, Chairman of CMHK, said: "We are extremely honoured that the grand opening of the "China Mobile 5G Innovation Center Hong Kong Open Lab" is being witnessed by the distinguished Permanent Secretary Miss Eliza Lee Man-ching and CMHK's strategic partners.  The Hong Kong Open Lab shoulders the responsibilities to demonstrate the 5G related achievements of the Group to international partners, and the support and promotion of IoT applications development and 5G technologies study for members of the 5G Innovation Center.  These include provision of test network environment and technical support, promotion of joint innovation projects, and the set-up of pilot trial zones in smart shopping malls with our partners, allowing customers to experience the IoT innovative applications."

Today, CMHK's award of the Trial Permit for 5G Test marks a significant milestone in the development of CMHK's 5G mobile network service in Hong Kong.  Coinciding with OFCA's announcement of the Spectrum Release Plan for 2018 to 2020, CMHK is proactively planning the 5G network deployment in line with the 5G technology roadmap.  With the Trial Permit for 5G Test officially obtained today, CMHK will commence the lab test of 5G network commercial equipment together with our partners in the second quarter, in order to acquire 5G technologies and application experience earlier and enable us to build a solid foundation of the leading technology development.

In line with China Mobile Group's rollout of 5G commercialization in 2020, CMHK will fully support OFCA on its 5G spectrum release, and the promotion of Hong Kong's 5G mobile communication services and smart city development.  In addition, the company will also collaborate with several local universities to launch 5G joint innovation on-campus activities, encompassing 5G technical research, class for 5G innovation, and IoT Application Innovations Competition, among others.

Dr. Vincent Lau, Chair Professor, Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology believes that in the 5G era, Internet of Everything will be achieved to interconnect Things with Man and Things with Things!  CMHK has established the Hong Kong Open Lab to collaborate with universities for the promotion of 5G technology research, allowing our students to learn more advanced knowledge as well as enhance their understanding of the interaction between AI and Mobile IoT.   Students can also participate in the development of the latest technologies and applications and have chances to cooperate with the business community in shaping a smart society and lifestyle for our future.  All these are commendable and have set an excellent model for the industry.

Dr. K. F. Tsang, Associate Professor and Director of Wireless Sustainability Center, Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, and Founding Director of Smart City Alliance cum Chairman of IoT Committee suggests that to cater for the global innovation and technology development, it is imperative to promote the development of smart cities.  As the cradle for nurturing our next generation of the society, universities are hoping to enhance students' knowledge on the technologies supporting the smart city development, and inspiring innovations through collaboration with CMHK's Open Lab, and in partnership with CMHK to build Hong Kong as a world-class smart city.

"China Mobile 5G Innovation Center Hong Kong Open Lab" was officially opened today.  Apart from introducing various projects and achievements of the 5G Innovation Center, a variety of 5G equipment, 5G and IoT applications are also on display.  Immediately following the opening ceremony, Guest-of-Honour Miss Eliza Lee Man-ching, Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Creative Industries), CMHK senior executives, VIPs and partners visited the Open Lab on a guided tour for a better understanding of its set-up and services, which include IDC service, conference rooms, training rooms, exhibition areas and workshops, in addition to grasping more about China Mobile Group's 5G achievements and CMHK's future 5G development roadmap.

Link to event photos:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19OtiSfMeDko2LPlMddrouGwNGY9C-wO9?usp=sharing

About China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited

China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited ("CMHK") is the wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile Limited (HKEx: 941) (NYSE: CHL), which ranks 47th on the Fortune Global 500. CMHK was incepted in January 1997 and was the first mobile network operator to launch PCS services in Hong Kong.

CMHK's 4G LTE service covers two major standards LTE FDD and TD-LTE, and launched the world's first converged commercial LTE network in 2012 and in November 2016, CMHK has successfully launched 4.5G mobile network. The Company offers innovative and comprehensive communications services, including voice, data, IDD and international roaming through 4G LTE, 3GHSPA, GPRS, EDGE and other technologies.  In 2016, CMHK became the first mobile operator* to provide 4G network coverage in 16 tunnels throughout Hong Kong. In February 2017, CMHK became Hong Kong's 1st mobile operator to cloudify its core network; in August, it became world's 1st first operator to launch commercial 2.3GHz TDD Massive MIMO technology and in September, it is the first operator to announce and activate NB-IoT commercial service.

CMHK is committed to extending its business in the multimedia value-added services market. In 2012, the Company launched UTV mobile TV service. In 2013, CMHK launched Mobius e-book service, innovative and simple mechanism 4G Pro tariff plan and 2cm (2nd exchange market), the first-ever data trading platform in the market, making data more valuable than ever.

With the strong support of its parent company China Mobile, CMHK has launched a series of cross-border mobile services for customers travelling between Hong Kong, China and around the world. Its '1-Card-Multi-Number' (1CMN), Multi-SIM data sharing, Data Roaming Zone and BlackBerry service plans are especially welcomed by frequent travelers. In May 2014, CMHK became the first service provider in Hong Kong to provide 4G data roaming service in Mainland China, creating a new era for cross-border mobile services. In May 2016, CMHK launched "Supreme Greater China" Service Plan; customers can enjoy data roaming service in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan inclusive in one monthly fee, enabling the best advantages in Greater China communications. With focus on expanding international roaming services, CMHK unveiled "Supreme" service plan series in March 2017. The "Supreme Global" and "Supreme Asia" Service Plans extensively cover the most frequented destinations of business and leisure travelers in Hong Kong, bringing added convenience to customers and allowing them to enjoy worry-free data roaming service with one single monthly fee.  With these roaming service plans, CMHK subscribers can reap the benefits of the superior experience of true global communications across different countries and regions. In September 2017, CMHK 4G data roaming coverage covers over 120 destinations.

The Company has been named as a "Caring Company" for 15 years consecutively since 2002, and a recognized merchant under the "Quality Tourism Service" scheme since 2004.

For more information, please visit: www.hk.chinamobile.com

*According to the "Test Report on Mobile Networks in Hong Kong Tunnels Available for Customer Use" (as of 26th May 2016).

#The 4G data roaming service coverage is measured against a designated list of destinations, please visit the China mobile Hong Kong website for details. The data was retrieved as of 1stSeptember 2017.

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180316/2082074-1

SOURCE China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited