China issued 5G spectrum licences to China Telecom, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network (CBN), allowing the three to share the 3.3GHz to 3.4GHz band for indoor coverage, China Daily reported.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT) move to allow use of public mobile frequencies by more than a single enterprise aims to encourage joint construction and sharing of 5G infrastructure.

In September 2019, China Telecom and China Unicom agreed to team on building and maintaining 5G RANs across the country, to accelerate deployment and slash associated costs.

CBN, a state-owned national cable TV operator, plans to invest CNY250 million ($35.8 million) to deploy 5G service in 16 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

It was granted a commercial 5G licence in June 2019 together with the country’s three major mobile operators.

China Telecom and China Unicom received 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band, while market leader China Mobile obtained 260MHz in the 2.6GHz and 4.9GHz bands.

The allocation of spectrum in the 3.3GHz to 3.4GHz band aims to reduce China Mobile’s advantage in overall spectrum holdings.