China Unicom

Company Overview

China Unicom (中国联通) is the second largest mobile network operator and telecommunications service provider operating in the Peoples Republic of China. The state-owned enterprise was founded in 1994 (then as 中国联合通信有限公司) by the Chinese Government as a GSM operator.

The company has provided 2G GSM services over 900 and 1800 MHz since 1995, and in September 2009 launched 3G UMTS over B1 (2100 MHz). The 3G UMTS network was upgraded to HSPA+ in 2011, and DC-HSPA+ in 2013. To improve coverage in rural areas a B8 (900 MHz) 3G service was launched in late 2013.

China Unicom commercially launched LTE services in B40 (2300 MHz) and B41 (2500 MHz in March 2014, holding a total of 40 MHz of TDD spectrum. The company secured FDD licences in August 2014 and subsequently launched B3 (1800 MHz) FDD LTE. A B8 (900 MHz) FDD LTE network was implemented in selected regions.

LTE-A 3C carrier aggregation was implemented December 2015 providing in excess of 300 Mbps peak DL data rates. The company has since trialled LTE-Advanced Pro Massive MIMO technology using 20 MHz of FDD spectrum achieving peak download throughput of 697.3 Mbps, and leveraging its partnership with Ericsson launched a Gigabit LTE-A Pro network in August 2017.

China Unicom achieved national coverage with its NB-IoT network in May 2018. The company has also been experimenting with eMTC (LTE Cat-M1) and Cat-M1 VoLTE IoT technologies.

China Unicom 5G

In December 2018 China Unicom received 5G test frequencies from 3500 to 3600 MHz (100 MHz total). In January 2019 the company achieved its first 5G data call in partnership with ZTE. The company opened a 5G test network across 40 cities in April 2019.

In a September 2019 agreement, China Unicom and China Telecom made the decision to share the construction of base stations in 24 cities. China Unicom advised its plans to build 40,000 5G base stations by the end of 2019. China Unicom's 5G network went live on the 1st November 2019.