The 5G connection will facilitate animal protection and ecological monitoring in the area.

Zhuonai Lake, located in the heart of Kekexili, is touted as the "Tibetan antelope maternity ward.”

Every year from May to July, tens of thousands of female Tibetan antelopes undertake long migrations to give birth in the vicinity of Zhuonai Lake.

Thus, it serves as a vital observation and relay point for protecting Tibetan antelopes. The protection station staff are required to conduct extended patrols in the area.

Traditional patrols relied on satellite phones, which left the staff disconnected for much of their time. This lack of connectivity posed challenges to ensuring personal safety and presented numerous inconveniences in the execution of patrol duties.

In early May, the deployment of 5G base station posed challenges to equipment performance. ZTE worked closely with China Mobile to overcome the harsh natural environment, characterised by high altitude, extreme cold, strong winds, and permafrost. It took them 20 days to finish the project.

The deployed 5G base station at Zhuonai Lake uses two frequency bands to achieve coverage and capacity.

The 700MHz band, combined with 5G ultra-long-range coverage technology, covers a radius of over 10km. The single base station can cover the entire Zhonai Lake region.

Additionally, the 2.6GHz band enables support for 32 HD video uploads, meeting the high bandwidth requirements for HD video backhaul around the protection station.

The base station transmission also leverages bandwidth and long-distance microwave relay, allowing for a single hop span of over 57km.

Furthermore, all equipment at the site is powered by solar energy, designed to withstand 11-level winds, and engineered to endure temperatures as low as -50°C.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 14 July 2023.