China Mobile & Huawei Implement 5G in Yangquan Coal Mine

China's largest hard coal producer Yangquan Coal Industry (Group) Co Ltd in Shanxi Province has finished building a 5G network in one of its mines, heralding the coming of 5G era of the country's cold industry and paving way for intelligent mining based on 5G technologies. The 5G network in Yangquan's subsidiary Xinyuan is first commercial 5G service under a coal mine shaft. It is built in partnership with China Mobile and Huawei. With the integrated 5G coverage, the data upload rate is above 800Mbps and the transmission latency is less than 20 milliseconds in the mine, enabling a variety of applications such as high-definition audio and video communications and remote intelligent control of equipment to free workers from the dangerous working environment,

With the 5G network in operation, the mine is expected to reduce its labor force in one underground working team from more than 170 to about 90 while maintaining the coal output

Yangquan Coal Industry Group is not alone in embracing the new technology. China's traditional coal mine companies are increasingly merging onto the 5G expressway. Yankuang Group, a mining conglomerate in eastern China's Shandong Province, has set up a joint lab with China Unicom and Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE to develop 5G and intelligent mining in areas including intelligent transportation and drone patrol. Kailuan Group in northern China's Hebei Province has clinched a deal with China Telecom on 5G technology application development, while Shanxi Coking Coal Group has signed with the Shanxi branch of China Unicom on leasing 5G facilities.