HKT, the largest mobile player in Hong Kong, and Huawei announced they are deploying an all-fibre mobile network architecture on a new Mass Transit Railway (MTR) line, which will enable all operators in the territory to offer 5G services.

In a statement, the companies said they are building a digital indoor system on the 17km Shatin to Central Link, which is under construction. The infrastructure has the capability to support 5G networks without the need for additional cabling throughout the ten stations of the new line, which connects Hong Kong Island and the New Territories.

The shared indoor network is based on Huawei’s LampSite Sharing product, which allows multiple operators to share a common indoor network, the companies explained.

Henry Wong, head of strategic wireless technology and core networks at HKT, said: “Large public venues, and locations such as metro stations and lines, shopping malls and airports demand a large capacity to meet the diversified service requirements, creating the need for onward evolution into 5G for technological and economic reasons.”

Ritchie Peng, president of Huawei’s small cell product line, said indoor spaces vary a lot and have diverse requirements, making differentiated solutions necessary.

The Office of the Communications Authority in July kicked off public consultations on 5G spectrum allocations in the 26GHz and 28GHz bands, which are also known as mmWave frequencies. The spectrum is expected to be available from April 2019, with operators planning to launch 5G services in 2020.