MIIT: 5G Models Drop to 41% of China's Q3 2021 Network Access License Applications
CAICT, 11/09/21
In Q3 2021, as demand from Chinese consumers for lower-cost 4G handset models increased, 5G models comprised just 41% of total new handset network access license applications submitted during the quarter, according to a newly issued report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The report also provided the following breakdowns of the new handset models that applied to the MIIT for network access licenses during Q3 2021:
Breakdown by Generation
During the quarter, a total of 166 new handset models applied to the MIIT for network access license testing, including 68 (40.96% of the total) 5G models, 91 (54.82%) 4G models, and 7 (4.22%) 2G models. The 40.96% figure for 5G models represents a year-on-year decrease of 13.6 percentage points, and a sequential drop of 16.4 percentage points, while the 54.82% figure for 4G models represents a year-on-year rise of 17.2 percentage points, and a sequential increase of 13.1 percentage points.
Breakdown by Radio Frequency Supported
5G Handsets
Of the 68 new 5G handset models that applied for network access license testing during the quarter, all 68 support Band n41 and Band n78, 15 (22.1%) support Band n79, 60 (88.2%) support Band n28, and 60 (88.2%) support Band n1.
4G Handsets
Of the 91 new 4G handset models that applied for network access license testing during the quarter, all 91 support Band 41, 41 (45.0%) support Band 1, and 84 (92.3%) support Band 3.
4G Model VoLTE Support
Of the 91 new 4G handset models that applied for network access license testing during Q3 2021, 88, or 96.7%, support VoLTE, representing increases of 9.9 percentage points YoY and 5.0 percentage points QoQ.
LTE Network Capability Support by User Equipment Category
Of the 91 new 4G handset models that applied for network access license testing during the quarter, 23 support User Equipment Category 1 capabilities, 42 support UE Category 4 capabilities, a combined 20 support UE Category 5, 6, 7, or 9 capabilities, and a combined 6 support UE Category 10, 11, or 12 capabilities.
Positioning Technology Support
Of the 166 new handset models that applied for network access license testing during the quarter, 134 (80.7% of the total), all either 4G or 5G models, support positioning technology.
Operating System
Of the new 4G and 5G handset models that applied for network access license testing during the quarter, 85.5% were smartphones, and of the smartphones, 90.4% run the Android operating system. Of those running Android, 55.3% run Android 11, which was released on September 8, 2020.
Keywords: handset wireless 4G Android MIIT 5G operating system VoLTE CAICT smartphone network access permit handset model national statistics