China Mobile Completes Communication Facility Construction in 40 Cabin Hospitals

Installation of mobile communication facility in 40 cabin hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei Province where the novel coronavirus pneumonia is raging, was fully completed by China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (China Mobile) on Feb 19.

Wuhan has made full use of its resources to build cabin hospitals. Stadiums, exhibition centers and university buildings, as well as some factories and warehouses, have been renovated into cabin hospitals to provide more beds for patients infected with the virus.

China Mobile quickly responded to meet communication capacity needs, assessed the current situation of local networks and developed appropriate supporting plans.

To accelerate the internet coverage and guarantee smooth communications for medical workers and patients, the company set up 20 teams to enlarge capacity at 384 base stations around the cabin hospitals which now can meet the communication needs of 450,000 people.

Dedicated lines and wideband were also adjusted to offer the best communication quality before the hospitals were put into use.

By Feb 18, China Mobile's 4,439 base stations and 225 dedicated lines in areas most impacted by the epidemic were operating normally through the efforts of 26,000 employees.

The company will continue to improve communication services to epidemic prevention and control departments, front-line medical workers and people in quarantine. 

China Mobile had sent over 470,000 people and nearly 140,000 vehicles to more than 3,000 key hospitals, 1,000 centers for disease prevention and control as well as 5,000 Party, government and military units nationwide for anti-epidemic support by Feb 18.

The company has also built 470 base stations and laid 517 kilometers of cable as well as opened 6,712 dedicated communication lines since the outbreak of the epidemic.

In addition, its staff members have participated in network construction of 63 hospitals modeled after Beijing's Xiaotangshan Hospital, which was built to treat severe infections during the 2003 SARS outbreak. Forty-four of the hospitals are in use now and 19 still under construction.

In terms of the communication services to users, China Mobile had offered free communication service for 23,000 front-line medical workers and opened non-stop phone service for nearly 900,000 leaders in epidemic prevention, front-line medics and users in areas most affected or in quarantine as well as important media workers by Feb 18.

The company also delayed disconnection for about 3.3 million Hubei users.

So far, more cabin hospitals are to be built in Wuhan to receive as many patients as possible. China Mobile established a 7/24 monitoring system to trace performance of the communication facilities including base stations and dedicated lines, and will continue to carry out on-site network testing to optimize performance and ensure a smooth and safe internet.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)