Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other thirteen departments on accelerating the construction of ＂broadband frontier＂

No.263 [2023] of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan, Tibet, Gansu, Xinjiang and other relevant provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, including communication management, industry and informatization, education, ethnic work, finance, natural resources, transportation, agriculture and rural areas. The railway bureau group companies, China Railway Holdings Joint Venture Railway Company, China Telecom Group Co., Ltd., China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd., China Radio and Television Network Group Co., Ltd., China Tower Co., Ltd., State Grid Co., Ltd. and China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd.:

In order to implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, speed up the improvement of the supply capacity of the frontier network, give full play to the supporting and empowering role of broadband network infrastructure, improve the production and living conditions of people of all ethnic groups, and help to prosper and enrich the frontier and stabilize the frontier, the relevant work on speeding up the construction of "broadband frontier" is hereby notified as follows.

I. General requirements

(A) the guiding ideology

Guided by Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress, adhere to the people-centered development thought, implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on prospering the border and enriching the people, stabilizing the border and securing the border, take the high-quality development of the border network as the main line, and aim at improving the network coverage and application level of key scenes, coordinate the urban and rural network construction in the border areas, deepen the coverage of mobile and fixed broadband networks, accelerate the upgrade to 5G and Gigabit optical networks, comprehensively improve the supply and service capabilities of broadband networks, and open up high-tech areas in the border areas.

(2) Basic principles

Department linkage, government-enterprise coordination. Strengthen multi-sectoral cooperation, encourage local governments to introduce supporting policies, and increase support for the construction of "broadband frontier". Actively play the main role of basic telecommunications enterprises, ensure investment in construction and operation and maintenance, and accelerate the construction and application of broadband networks in border areas.

Make overall arrangements and focus on promoting. Strengthen the overall layout of broadband networks in border areas, make overall plans for network construction such as 5G and Gigabit optical networks in border areas, highlight key application scenarios in border counties, advance in an orderly manner step by step, enrich network applications, and promote the work of prospering and enriching the border and stabilizing the border with high quality.

Demand traction, classified policy. Facing the needs of digital development in border areas, combined with the characteristics of local geographical environment, population distribution and economic level, we will implement differentiated support policies, increase support for high-cost areas with market failures, and promote the evolution and upgrading of networks in border areas by classification.

Co-construction, sharing and integrated development. Coordinate and promote the intensive construction of broadband network infrastructure, accelerate the integrated deployment and sharing of broadband network infrastructure with infrastructure in municipal, transportation, electric power, forestry and grass fields, continuously improve the level of co-construction and sharing, and effectively play the role of broadband network support and empowerment.

(III) Work objectives

The implementation scope of this notice includes the land border counties (cities, districts and banners) in nine border provinces (regions) such as Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Guangxi, Yunnan, Tibet, Gansu and Xinjiang, and the border farms of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; Eleven coastal provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) such as Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan have counties (cities, districts) with coastlines.

By the end of 2025, 5G and Gigabit optical network access will be realized in counties and towns in border areas; The proportion of administrative villages, rural populated areas with more than 20 households, border management and trade institutions, and inhabited islands with broadband access (including optical fiber access, 4G access or 5G access) reached 100%; Mobile network coverage is basically realized along the national and provincial roads along the border; Network coverage is realized on demand in inland sea areas.

By the end of 2027, the proportion of administrative villages, border management and trade institutions in border areas connected to 5G networks will reach over 95%; More than 20 rural populated areas, national highways and provincial highways along the border will basically achieve 5G network coverage; The proportion of people living in islands connected to 5G networks reached 100%; The inland sea, territorial sea and other sea areas have basically achieved 5G network coverage.

Second, the key tasks

(A) to speed up the county broadband network upgrade

1. Upgrade and expand the county broadband network infrastructure. Actively guide basic telecommunications enterprises to moderately advance the layout of "double gigabit" network infrastructure in border counties, gradually promote the deployment of large-capacity transmission equipment and data equipment, and enhance the comprehensive business carrying capacity of towns and villages. Coordinate the construction of important routing optical cables in the county, upgrade and expand the optical cable network between the county and prefecture-level cities, towns and counties, and promote the construction of double-uplicated optical cable routes in the county and towns.

2. Deploy application infrastructure in border areas as needed. In combination with the needs of digital development such as government affairs, medical care, education, rural e-commerce, and border management, we will actively promote the deployment of application infrastructure such as cloud resource pools and content distribution networks to border areas, and rationally arrange computing infrastructure. Cooperate with the deployment of edge computing, intelligent terminals and other equipment, and cultivate a number of typical cases of application infrastructure that can be replicated and promoted in frontier areas.

(B) to strengthen rural broadband network construction.

3. Accelerate the upgrading of broadband networks in rural populated areas. Promote the broadband upgrade of township government stations and administrative villages in border areas to Gigabit optical networks, flexibly adopt medium and low frequency 5G base stations, and gradually promote the extension and coverage of 5G networks to rural areas. Explore broadband access technologies and networking schemes for scattered users in remote areas, and accelerate the broadband network coverage of scenes such as rural populated areas with more than 20 households, new villages on the border, and forest farms/farms/pastures.

4. Promote broadband network coverage in production and operation areas in an orderly manner. Promote the extension and coverage of mobile networks to rural production and operation areas such as planting areas, breeding areas and agricultural products processing areas in border areas, and gradually improve the breadth and depth of network coverage. Strengthen the construction of "double gigabit" networks in key areas such as direct broadcast bases of agricultural products, rural logistics service outlets and wholesale markets of agricultural products in production and sales areas, and improve the quality of network services.

(3) Promote the coverage of road mobile networks.

5. Optimize the coverage of mobile networks along major traffic routes. Accelerate the construction of 4G/5G networks along the county, focusing on national highways, provincial highways and expressways. Priority will be given to the coverage of neighboring road sections such as township government residences, administrative villages and tourist attractions, and the mobile network coverage of rural roads and border roads will be gradually promoted.

6. Improve the coverage of mobile networks along frontier railways and waterways. Combined with business needs and investment capacity, improve the coverage level of mobile networks along railways in border areas and international border rivers and waterways. Negotiate and promote the network construction of key areas such as railway tunnels, realize effective coverage along the railway, and actively protect the network demand of users.

(four) to enhance the border management agencies and border trade regional network support capabilities.

7. Improve the broadband network supply capacity of border management agencies. Accelerate the improvement of broadband network coverage and access capacity of border management agencies such as ports, border crossings, border checkpoints, border checkpoints, border police stations, police offices and duty stations, and promote the application of next-generation information technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data and artificial intelligence, effectively enhancing the ability of information-based border defense and control.

8. Accelerate the construction of high-quality networks in border trade areas. Give full play to the advantages of location and resources along the border, accelerate the construction of "double Gigabit" networks in key areas such as mutual trade points, logistics hubs, commodity distribution centers, characteristic industrial parks and demonstration bases, and build a digital base of "smart customs, smart borders and intelligent connectivity" to effectively improve the level of trade facilitation.

(5) Strengthen the coverage of broadband networks in island waters.

9. Optimize and upgrade the broadband network in the island area. Deepen the broadband network coverage of inhabited islands, and gradually promote the "double gigabit" network construction of islands. Explore communication technologies such as submarine cables, satellites and microwaves, and strengthen the network connection between important islands and neighboring islands and continents. Promote mobile network coverage of uninhabited islands as needed.

10. Promote mobile network coverage in coastal waters. Combined with the characteristics of coastline and the needs of offshore development activities, the coverage of 5G signals in coastal waters will be gradually expanded. Encourage relying on coastlines, islands and reefs, lighthouses, offshore oil and gas and wind power platforms to promote signal coverage in inland seas, territorial seas and adjacent areas, and flexibly adopt technologies such as satellites and microwaves to ensure the network demand of exclusive economic zones.

(6) Improve the service level of network maintenance.

11. Strengthen the daily operation and maintenance of the network in border areas. Increase investment in personnel, funds and materials, strengthen the monitoring and inspection of network equipment, line safety and operation status in border areas, and timely discover, investigate and dispose of security risks. Improve the emergency communication management mechanism and continuously improve the emergency response capability.

12. Guarantee the network quality in border areas. Encourage the coordinated development of 5G and 4G networks, support the development and deployment of multimode base station equipment, and meet the needs of rural areas for different standard networks. Support border areas to give priority to roaming in different networks and reduce the overall network construction cost in border areas. Carry out network quality evaluation and monitoring analysis to ensure the user’s business access experience.

13. Improve the level of network services in border areas. Increase the service assessment of the first-line windows such as physical business halls and customer service hotlines, and effectively improve the quality of broadband network services. Encourage the introduction of exclusive preferential tariffs for special groups such as poverty-stricken households, the elderly and the disabled in frontier rural areas.

(7) Empowering the digital development of border areas.

14. Empower digital services of public institutions. Promote the construction of 5G and Gigabit optical networks in primary and secondary schools in border areas, and create a number of benchmark cases of "double Gigabit" network construction in primary and secondary schools. Promote grassroots medical and health institutions such as frontier county hospitals, township hospitals and village clinics to carry out "double gigabit" network construction, promote the integrated application of information technology in rural basic medical and public health services, and carry out the pilot application of "broadband network+healthy villages".

15. Empower the digital transformation of rural industries. Deepen the application of "Double Gigabit" network in agricultural production scenarios, help build a number of smart farms, smart pastures and smart fishing grounds, and realize the digitalization of the whole process of agricultural production. Upgrade the network of rural e-commerce service sites to help the development of rural live e-commerce. Promote "5G+ Smart Tourism" and create a new tourism model.

16. Empower digital governance in rural areas. Promote the deep integration of "Double Gigabit" network and rural governance, and give full play to the important role of digital technology in grassroots party building, government services, and comprehensive governance. Help "Internet+government services" sink to rural areas and effectively improve the efficiency of grassroots convenience services. With the "double Gigabit" network, high-definition video, big data platform and other technical means, we will continuously improve the rural grid and refined management capabilities.

Third, safeguard measures

(A) improve the working mechanism

Local communication administrations should establish a collaborative promotion mechanism for the construction of "broadband frontier" with local departments such as industry and informatization, education, ethnic work, finance, natural resources, transportation, agriculture and rural areas, health and health, energy, border management, forestry and grassland, railways, etc., formulate work plans, clarify the division of tasks, and submit the work plan to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology before the end of March 2024. Establish a task ledger, communicate and coordinate regularly, promote the solution of network construction and maintenance difficulties, and report the work progress, existing difficulties and problems to the local party Committee and government on an annual basis.

(2) Guarantee capital investment

Basic telecommunications enterprises should focus on improving the development level of broadband networks in border areas, ensure the investment of network construction and operation and maintenance funds in border areas, actively urge local companies to undertake construction tasks, and exclude the costs involved in undertaking the construction tasks of telecom universal service projects when assessing the operating efficiency of companies in various provinces, cities and counties. China Tower Co., Ltd. should actively undertake the task of building the tower site in frontier areas, and increase its support for the telecom universal service project in accordance with the requirements of relevant documents. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance make overall consideration of the demand for "broadband frontier" construction, and give key support to the demand for network coverage in rural areas with high construction cost and poor natural conditions in the telecommunications universal service project.

(3) Improve support policies

Encourage relevant local departments to introduce special policies, strengthen the connection between network infrastructure and municipal and public service infrastructure in border areas, and reserve construction space in advance; Strengthen the power supply guarantee, do a good job in effectively connecting the access computer room, mobile communication base station and other planning with the power facility planning, and simplify the approval process. Local natural resources, forestry, grassland and border management departments should actively coordinate and solve the problems of land use, forest use, grass use and sea use involved in the construction of communication optical cables, submarine cables and base stations, and speed up the relevant procedures. Encourage local governments to actively coordinate the reduction and exemption of compensation, sea area use and other related expenses. The State Council State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) eliminated the relevant impacts in the performance appraisal of enterprises undertaking the task of "broadband frontier construction". Fully endowing the construction of "broadband frontier" with the significance of highlighting the consciousness of the Chinese nation’s community, and the State Ethnic Affairs Commission gives support in carrying out relevant appraisal and commendation.

(4) Deepening cooperation and sharing

Encourage all localities to promote the facilities of government agencies and institutions to open to the construction of "broadband frontier" free of charge. Strengthen cross-industry resource sharing, and promote the two-way sharing of resources such as pipe holes, towers/watchtowers, station sites and computer rooms between basic telecommunications enterprises and municipal, transportation, electric power, forestry and grass industries. Encourage relevant industry units to open power towers, traffic signal poles, road portal frames, video surveillance poles, highway pipe holes, railway channels and other resources to build communication facilities in a reasonable and fair market-oriented way on the premise of meeting the use requirements in this field and meeting the requirements of norms and standards, safe production, friendly consultation and clear responsibilities. Strengthen co-construction and sharing within the industry, promote cross-enterprise stock resources mutual cooperation, and enhance network robustness.

(E) to strengthen the tracking efficiency.

Relying on the national telecom universal service management support platform, strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of network infrastructure construction and key indicators of network quality in border areas. Basic telecommunications enterprises should strengthen the tracking and analysis of network construction investment, network scale and business development in border counties, and local communication administrations should carry out daily supervision and spot checks on the implementation of key tasks, and regularly report the progress to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to ensure that all tasks and objectives are completed on schedule. Organize the summary and evaluation of the construction of "broadband frontier counties" and set up a number of typical models with distinctive characteristics and remarkable results.

(6) Intensify publicity.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with relevant departments, will strengthen the analysis of the progress and effectiveness of the construction of "broadband frontier" and increase publicity and promotion. Support relevant media organizations to flexibly adopt various forms, dig deep and actively publicize typical cases and experiences in the construction and application of "broadband frontier". Local communication administrations, basic telecommunications enterprises and China Tower Co., Ltd. should strengthen the combing of typical cases in their own regions and enterprises, carry out experience exchange and sharing, and create a good construction environment.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Ministry of Education

State Ethnic Affairs Commission

the Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Natural Resources

Ministry of Transport

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

National Health Commission (NHS)

State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC)

National Energy Administration

National Immigration Bureau

National Forestry and Grassland Bureau

China national railway group co., ltd

December 29, 2023