5G to be expected on world's longest cross-sea bridge

 Beijing: The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge, the world's longest cross-sea bridge, is expected to have 5G service in the future, authorities said on Sunday.

The 55-km bridge that opened last month connects the mainland province of Guangdong with Hong Kong and Macao, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge now has good coverage of 4G service," said Fang Zheng, vice general manager of the WLAN office of ZTE Corp., the bridge's network operator.

"Experts and workers have overcome the difficulties of a complex construction environment and the lack of an optical fibre to provide tailored 4G solutions for the bridge and prepare for the future upgrading of 5G service."

Experts and workers extended the coverage area of the optical fibre to 20 km, double the conventional maximum onshore coverage of 10 km, to ensure the full coverage of network signal along the bridge, according to the constructors.

The bridge was now ready for the access of Internet of Things, a major business to be achieved by 5G technology, according to Fang. 

From the very beginning, the technological base needed for 5G has been considered in terms of network architecture, room for 5G station and the installment of fibre.