Zhejiang Mobile and ZTE Build 5G Messaging in the 5G-A × AI Era

At the end of October 2024, Apple released iOS18.1, officially announcing support for 5G Messaging. This allows users to exchange high-definition pictures, videos, real-time locations, and other media forms between Apple and Android devices, and also obtain personalized information services through chatbot interactions. Apple's entry signifies the removal of terminal-level obstacles to the development of 5G Messaging service. This milestone is expected to further expand the global influence of 5G Messaging based on the GSMA rich communication service (RCS) standard and unlock huge market growth opportunities. According to Juniper Research, the number of active RCS users is projected to increase from 1.2 billion in 2024 to 2.1 billion globally in 2025. Additionally, global operator revenue from RCS business messaging (RBM) is forecasted to reach US$ 8 billion in 2025.

As early as April 2020, China Mobile, together with China Telecom and China Unicom, released a 5G Messaging White Paper, announcing an upgrade of basic communication services. Traditional SMS messaging could no longer meet users' diversified requirements and must be upgraded to 5G Messaging. 5G Messaging delivers a brand-new messaging experience to both individual and industrial users and presents new development opportunities for global operators, terminal manufacturers, platform vendors, industrial customers, and related sectors. The three major operators in China have called on industry partners to jointly build a new 5G Messaging ecosystem.

As a pioneer in China Mobile's 5G development, the Zhejiang Branch of China Mobile (Zhejiang Mobile) was one of the first batch of 5G Messaging pilot units under the unified guidance of its Group. The 5G Messaging center system for the Southeast China region was exclusively built by ZTE. The project was launched in February 2020. Within a short three-month construction period, Zhejiang Mobile, together with ZTE, has achieved the pilot goals set by the Group, securing four leading achievements in 5G Messaging construction: the first to complete the first call (April 3), the first to launch 5G Messaging application (May 15), the first to carry SMS service (May 19), and the first to carry 5G Messaging service (June 17). In addition, Zhejiang Mobile released applications covering six major sectors, including government, banking, power, personal entertainment, 5G integrated media, and education, laying a solid foundation for the construction and commercial use of 5G Messaging in China.   

Since the commercial launch of 5G, China Mobile has not only built the world's largest and most widely covered 5G network, but also established the world's largest commercial 5G Messaging network, setting a global benchmark for RCS development. To date, China Mobile has deployed a network-wide platform spanning 16 regions, fully promoting 5G Messaging, and launching more than 1.3 million chatbot applications. The number of 5G Messaging users in the Southeast China region exceeds 20 million, and the MaaP platform delivers more than 30 million messages daily on average.

As 5G enters its second phase, 5G-A has been put into commercial use. China Mobile has introduced 5G-A x AI to usher in the "A era", characterized by A-level speed (faster speeds), A-level experience (better experience), and A-level equity (better service). Zhejiang Mobile has collaborated with industry partners to accelerate 5G-A innovation. In China, Zhejiang Mobile has built the world's first 5G-A 10 Gigabit site, the world’s first premium 10 Gigabit 5G-A experience route, and the first full-scenario 5G-A application demonstration area for the Asian Games.

In collaboration with ZTE, Zhejiang Mobile also launched the world's first pilot of large-model-based 5G Messaging application—"Intelligent and Trusted AI"—built on the Qingzhou low-code platform, marking the official debut of intelligent chat services in the “A" era. By integrating AI, 5G Messaging is evolving into a unified AI service entry point for mobile networks, covering three key domains: AI+ messaging service, AI+ information service, and AI+ application service. Unlike conventional large models that require additional app downloads, web pages or mini programs, “Intelligent and Trusted AI” is simple and native. Users only need to send a 5G message or SMS to the chatbot application to enjoy a intelligent messaging experience powered by AI.

Zhejiang Mobile collaborated with ZTE's 5G Messaging team to propose an end-to-end AI implementation solution, covering feasibility study, model selection, service processes, and NE interfaces. During model selection, the project team thoroughly compared each model’s comprehensiveness, accuracy, compliance, and abnormality, while analyzing the existing network testing latency and user experience.  ZTE’s Nebula large model solution was ultimately selected for pilot implementation.

With full commitment, the project team completed the first call of the large-model-based 5G Messaging application within just two weeks. Upon its initial launch, the application supported native AI-driven intelligent conversation capabilities across 5G Messaging, SMS, and web modes, and was rapidly iterated to add multimodal dialog capabilities, including text-to-image, image-to-text, voice-to-image, and adaptive generation, covering semantic understanding, speech recognition, visual processing, and bidirectional generation for multimodal interaction. After testing and verification, it outperformed Baidu’s Ernie Bot and iFLYTEK’s SPARK, earning recognition from the Group and being recommended for wider adoption across other branches.

As 5G Messaging continues to mature and its application scenarios expand, it is poised to play a key role in driving the digital and intelligent transformation of industries and bridging the "last mile" in information services. Zhejiang Mobile, together with ZTE and other partners, is committed to building a leading digital service system centered on new infrastructure, new network connections, new capabilities, and new services.