Photo: Xinhua/Li Xin

China Mobile's Hong Kong branch became the first operator in the city to successfully complete the standalone (SA) deployment of 5G networks, a leap into the 5G era, local media said.

China Mobile's Hong Kong branch completed both the SA and the non-standalone (NSA) base station with a 5G innovation center at the Hong Kong Science Park and the Mita data center, and became the first to successfully complete 5G audio and video calls through the 5G SA network.

Currently the operator is still deploying 5G devices on existing 4G base stations, according to Li Yunfeng, executive CEO China Mobile's Hong Kong branch. The 5G services in Hong Kong will be introduced in NSA format, but ultimately both NSA and SA will be supported.

Hong Kong completed its 5G spectrum early this month, with four network operators receiving different amounts. China Mobile's Hong Kong branch is one of the two operators with the most spectrum resources in Hong Kong.

Li also forecasts that the monthly 5G data bundle in Hong Kong will be introduced in the second quarter of 2020.