Here comes 5.5G, which is faster than 5G. Yesterday, the reporter learned from Beijing Mobile that the first 5G-A experimental base station in the Beijing area was opened for construction at the International Information Port in Changping District. 5G-A, commonly known as 5.5G, is the transitional "step" between 5G and 6G. 5.5G will comprehensively surpass the existing 5G in terms of speed, latency, connection scale, and energy consumption, achieving peak rates, millisecond level latency, and low-cost 100 billion IoT for downlink and uplink gigabytes, which means faster network speed and lower latency. How fast can 5.5G be? In February this year, China Mobile said at the Mobile World Congress that 5.5G would further improve the network capacity, achieving 10 times speed increase, 10 times energy efficiency improvement, hundreds of billions of connections and other excellent capabilities. 5G has brought about significant changes in the past four years of commercial use. As of the end of February, the total number of 5G base stations in China reached 2.384 million, and the construction of 5G networks is steadily advancing. So, what can 5.5G, which is faster than 5G, do? 5.5G will rely on faster network speed and lower latency to generate more application scenarios. For example, by utilizing its millisecond level latency to achieve immersive experiences, future users can achieve deep immersive experiences through visual, auditory, taste, smell, and other senses when using AR and VR devices. They can also achieve multi country remote conferences, holographic remote education, etc. People are no longer limited to physical locations, and the "metaverse" will accelerate its arrival. For the manufacturing industry, 5.5G will support more comprehensive IoT capabilities with faster upstream transmission rates, helping enterprises achieve intelligent manufacturing production. According to the "5G-Advanced Scenario Requirements and Key Technologies White Paper", 5G-A will be targeted at six main application scenarios, including immersive real-time, intelligent uplink, industrial interconnection, synesthesia integration, billions of Internet of Things, and heaven and earth integration. It will further evolve from key end-to-end aspects such as networks, terminals, and clouds to build the infrastructure for a digital, intelligent, and green low-carbon society. As a "step" from 5G to 6G, 5.5G needs to make up for the shortcomings of 5G and further strengthen 5G technology. On the other hand, it is starting to explore 6G and pave the way for its development. To explore the uncertainty of 6G in the certainty of 5G, "Liu Guangyi, Chief Scientist of China Mobile Group, detailed the development of 6G at the 2023 World Telecom and Information Society Daily Report in Beijing, and stated that 6G is still in the early stages of forming vision requirements and researching key technologies. (New News Agency)