The eMTC module is not yet mature, which limits the deployment of operators on eMTC to some extent.

This year, the three major operators in China have carried out large-scale rapid deployment in the field of narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and they have also achieved commercialization initially; however, the enhanced machine-like communication (eMTC), also the key technology of the Internet of Things, has not been obtained. Massive popularity.

At present, operators are not completely unstructured in eMTC. China Telecom said in July that it will implement eMTC commercial deployment next year; China Unicom (600050, shares it) also told reporters that eMTC will be promoted next year.

Communication expert Xiang Ligang believes that the core of the Internet of Things is the communication module. Without a module, there is no product that can be applied. It is not useful to have a network. "Compared to NB-IoT, eMTC is inferior in terms of modules, which is an obstacle that operators must break in the commercial process of eMTC."

"China Unicom is advancing the eMTC new technology test and trial commercial work. At present, it has completed the evaluation of the network function and performance of the laboratory, and promoted the IoT interworking with terminal modules." Recently, the reporter learned from China Unicom that with With the promotion of scale trials and trial commercials and the maturity of related industries, China Unicom is expected to promote eMTC commercialization in 2018.

It is understood that China Unicom has opened eMTC scale experimental network in four provinces and cities such as Beijing and Guangdong, and has carried out technical verification of related scale networking to promote related business demonstration work.

Like NB-IoT, eMTC is one of the main technologies for IoT wireless connectivity. Internationally, due to factors such as 2G withdrawal, it is imperative to promote the low cost of 4G Internet of Things. Therefore, US operators have chosen to prioritize eMTC deployment; in China, Huawei has dominated NB-IoT technology and has many Chinese companies have a certain voice and patents, so the three major operators are ahead of eMTC in NB-IoT deployment.

In addition to China Unicom, China Telecom has announced eMTC's commercial plans on several occasions. For example, Yang Jie, chairman of China Telecom, said in July that he will conduct eMTC verification tests in the second half of this year, plan to implement commercial deployment in 2018, and further build a full range of Internet of Things based on 4G.

When China Mobile responded to reporters' questions, it did not specify the eMTC's commercial timetable, but also said that both NB-IoT and eMTC belong to the cellular IoT bearer technology. Compared with the non-cellular IoT bearer technology, the coverage capability, There are obvious advantages in terms of industry scale and security, and it is the IoT technology that the Group focuses on or focuses on.

Communication expert Xiang Ligang believes that although there is no clear statement, China Mobile's deployment on eMTC will be faster.

Although the three major operators have more or less plans for commercial use of eMTC, in Xiang Ligang's view, because the modules supporting eMTC are not yet mature, the deployment of operators on eMTC is limited to some extent; Chinese manufacturers already have relatively complete NB-IoT standards, modules and products are quite different.

“Operators are saying that they need to build a multi-slice, multi-standard network to provide diverse IoT capabilities, but from the idea to the actual promotion, there is no corresponding communication module can not talk about productization.” Just told reporters.

The reporter noted that during the China Mobile Partner Conference last month, China Mobile said that it will spend 2 billion yuan as a special subsidy for the Internet of Things next year, of which 1 billion yuan will be used for NB-IoT modules, thereby promoting related industries. Development, which also reflects the development of eMTC modules still lags behind.

Although there are still many obstacles, the direction of operators deploying eMTC has not changed.

China Unicom people told reporters that the Internet of Things business is large in volume and various in variety, and the various business characteristics are quite different. Since the technical characteristics of NB-IoT and eMTC are both intersecting and complementary, the two will coexist and develop together, and The basic technology of the future 5G mMTC large connection scenario to achieve large connectivity services and support 5G technology evolution.