To accelerate and promote the development of small and medium-sized cities, information infrastructure construction is essential. The Ministry of industry and information technology and the national development and Reform Commission jointly issued the notice on promoting cloud network integration and accelerating the construction of information infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities a few days ago. It is proposed that by 2025, the cloud network infrastructure covering small and medium-sized cities will be basically completed in the eastern region, the central and western regions and most of the northeast, meeting the digital transformation needs of small and medium-sized city enterprises, and providing a solid foundation for the industrial agglomeration and high-quality development of small and medium-sized cities.

Realizing leapfrog development of communication industry

In recent years, China's 5g, gigabit optical network and other new information infrastructure construction coverage have accelerated in an all-round way, and the construction of urban and rural information technology facilities has yielded fruitful results. This has promoted the issuance of the notice on promoting cloud network integration and accelerating the construction of information infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities (hereinafter referred to as the notice).

According to the data of the Ministry of industry and information technology, by the end of 2021, China had built and opened a total of 1.425 million 5g base stations, built the world's largest 5g network, covered all prefecture level cities, more than 98% of county towns and 80% of township towns, and launched the construction of Gigabit fiber broadband networks in more than 300 cities. In the countryside, the "village to village broadband" has been realized. By the end of 2021, the total number of rural broadband access users had reached 158 million. Huang Chengqing, vice president of China Internet association, said that as a strategic, basic and leading industry supporting economic and social development, the information and communication industry has achieved leapfrog development in recent years.

"While the development of information infrastructure in large cities and remote rural areas is accelerating, we are also concerned that there is still a certain gap between small and medium-sized cities represented by county towns, especially those in the central and western regions and Northeast China, and large cities in the deployment process and application popularization of information infrastructure." According to the relevant person in charge of the information and Communication Development Department of the Ministry of industry and information technology, the notice aims to conform to the current development trend of cloud network integration, accelerate the upgrading of network infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities and the deployment of application infrastructure on demand, and drive the high-quality development of regional economy and society.

High quality information infrastructure is crucial to the economic and social development of small and medium-sized cities. Promoting the construction of information infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities can not only provide support for the digital transformation of local enterprises, thus better promoting regional coordinated development, but also provide high-quality information services for users in small and medium-sized cities, improve their information service experience, and further release the potential of information consumption.

Accelerate the construction of "cloud platform"

The circular is mainly aimed at small and medium-sized cities (including prefecture level cities, county towns and mega towns) with a permanent resident population of less than 1 million. It is proposed that by 2025, the construction goals of "thousands of cities and thousands of pools" will be realized, that is, the Gigabit access capacity and cloud resource pool will cover more than 1000 small and medium-sized cities.

In order to achieve this goal, the circular puts forward a number of tasks in the fields of network facilities, application facilities, technological innovation, integrated applications, and industrial agglomeration in combination with the trend of technological development and the development needs of local digital economy. For example, we should vigorously cultivate integrated applications based on cloud infrastructure. Encourage and support Internet content and application service enterprises to accelerate the research and development of various cloud based and high bandwidth application products and enrich application types and scenarios in combination with the actual needs of small and medium-sized cities. Encourage relevant enterprises and government institutions to accelerate the construction of digital cloud platforms, and promote enterprises and institutions to use the cloud in depth.

Ke Ruiwen, chairman of China Telecom, said that accelerating the construction of an intelligent comprehensive digital information infrastructure with high-speed ubiquitous, integration of heaven and earth, cloud and network integration, intelligence, agility, green and low-carbon, security and controllability is the basis for building a digital China and a digital government. The feature of this infrastructure is cloud and network integration. In the future, "cloud network integration" should realize the unification of technology base, operation management and supply mode, and truly form a digital platform.

People in the industry suggested that public service institutions such as schools and hospitals in central cities should be encouraged to use cloud facilities to establish assistance and cooperation with small and medium-sized cities, and to build medical Internet hospitals and distance education information networks.

Intensive implementation of new measures

At present, all localities are formulating implementation plans for the construction of information infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities in the region in combination with local development realities and industrial needs. Some localities have actively introduced relevant measures to create a model.

For example, on February 9, Yunnan Provincial Communications Administration issued the notice on organizing and carrying out information collection infrastructure construction projects in small and medium-sized cities. Organize and carry out the collection of information infrastructure construction related projects for China Telecom Yunnan company, China Mobile Yunnan company, China Unicom Yunnan branch, China Radio and television Yunnan company, China Tower Yunnan branch and other relevant enterprises. It is mentioned that projects with strong demonstration, innovation and popularization will be publicized and promoted through multiple channels by building typical demonstration benchmarks.

On February 11, the Guangdong Provincial Communications Administration issued the notice on establishing the project library of information infrastructure construction in small and medium-sized cities to China Telecom Corporation Guangdong Branch, China Mobile Communications Group Guangdong Co., Ltd., China United Network Communications Co., Ltd. Guangdong branch and related enterprises, organized the construction of the project library of information infrastructure construction in small and medium-sized cities, We will further strengthen the overall integration, optimized layout and dynamic reserve of information infrastructure construction projects in small and medium-sized cities, and guide governments and enterprises at all levels to tilt investment toward small and medium-sized cities.

The reporter learned that the national development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of industry and information technology have organized the implementation of the "infrastructure network improvement project for small and medium-sized cities in the central and western regions" to give financial support to the projects in the central and western regions and the northeast regions that are included in the project library, and encourage all localities to provide support for the projects that are included in the project library in terms of policies, funds, and supporting resources. Experts believe that enhancing the carrying capacity and service capacity of network infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities, optimizing the layout of application infrastructure, and improving the information service experience of users in small and medium-sized cities can effectively help the construction of new urbanization.