The Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) signed a 5G cooperation framework agreement with four communication industry companies to upgrade the intelligent aviation system at Pudong and Hongqiao airports in late August.

The enterprises are the Shanghai branches of China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Tower.

According to the agreement, the SAA will fully employ its advantages in airport infrastructure and help telecom operators with 5G construction. China Tower will provide overall planning as well as technical guidance and wireless communication support for the SAA and the operators.

The 5G technology will promote artificial intelligence for air transportation, improve operation efficiency and reduce operation costs. In the future, the SAA will build an efficient operation and decision-making system based on big data via the 5G network.

This technology is also the focus of the new infrastructure and the key to support the digital, networked and intelligent transformation of economy and society.

By end of July, more than 25,000 5G outdoor base stations and 31,000 indoor stations had been built in Shanghai, realizing continuous coverage of an outdoor 5G network in the central urban area and key suburban areas.

Shanghai’s total investment in 5G construction will reach nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in 2020 and the average download rate of 5G throughout the city will exceed 200MB. It will total over 500MB in key areas, important venues and major business districts by year-end.