Shanghai’s Hongkou district has become the first area in the world with 5G connectivity, as well as a broadband gigabit network as China Mobile started trial operations. A total of 228 5G base stations have been deployed in Hongkou, making it the first district in Shanghai fully covered by a 5G network. The network is able to provide a peak single-user download speed of 1.6 Gbps, nearly 16 times faster than that of 4G. At the launch ceremony of the network, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Wu Qing made the network’s first 5G video call on a Huawei Mate X, the first phone with 5G capabilities. Zhang Jianming, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization, said the city aims to build over 10,000 5G base stations by the end of the year, and the number is expected to exceed 30,000 by 2021.

To support the development of the technology, Hongkou has launched a 5G Global Innovation Hub in the North Bund area. The hub will include exhibition, innovation, applications and promotion of 5G technology to make Hongkou and Shanghai an information technology highland, according to the district government. There are all together 4,500 shipping companies and 1,200 financial companies and institutions in the North Bund area, spread over 3 million square meters of office buildings. Hongkou will mainly focus on the 5G applications on smart health care, intelligent education, smart buildings, the Hongkou Football Stadium, smart communities, drone cruises, urban security, urban management, financial services, culture and sports, and other major fields.

Hongkou-based companies and individuals are encouraged to take part in the coming 5G innovative application competition to develop a number of characteristic 5G applications and prepare for the commercial operation of 5G services. The 5G network is expected to provide solutions to industrial manufacturing, internet-connected cars, health care and city management. The Shanghai General Hospital and China Mobile have also announced a partnership on 5G technology for patient information transmission and communication. A Sino-Belgian incubator is also planned, the Shanghai Daily reports.

Soon consumers will have access to the network with their current SIM card and number, but they will have to buy new 5G phones.

Germany has no plans to block Huawei from participating in the buildup of its 5G ultra-high speed internet, Jochen Homann, President of the Bundesnetzagentur, Germany’s telecommunications regulator, told the Financial Times. He said that his agency did not have evidence that Huawei poses a security risk. Last month, the U.S. Ambassador to Berlin warned the German government that Washington would consider scaling back intelligence cooperation should Huawei be given a role in the 5G build out.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) aims to block an application by China Mobile to enter the U.S. market as a “common carrier”, that would enable it to carry international voice traffic between the U.S. and foreign countries. It would not provide domestic telephone or mobile services in the U.S. The FCC said approving the application would raise substantial and serious national security and law enforcement risks. If the FCC rejects China Mobile’s application, the company can ask a federal court to review that decision.