Black Market Base Stations
With over 1.7m 5G base stations across the Mainland, China is the leader in 5G on a unit volume basis, with 70% of the global total 5G base station count on the Chinese Mainland, according to the Chinese Ministry of Industry & Information Technology, and Beijing alone is said to have almost 52,000 5G base station, essentially 20.8 for every 10,000 residents. Guangzhou (formerly Canton), one of the three largest cities in China and the most populous metropolitan area on the globe, has a 5G based bus rapid transit dispatch system and both a 5G based ‘smart’ railway station system and 5G internet service for consumers across eight stations on Line 18 of the Guangzhou rapid transit system, which travels at ~100 mph.
It can be assumed that given the size of Guangzhou (~14m), a bit smaller than Beijing (~21m), there are ~35,000 5G base station across the city proper, helping to create a 5G network that covers much of the city. That said, aside from companies that produce, install, or maintain that 5G equipment, there are some who wish to profit from the 5G expansion in Guangzhou, and one Wu Moumou, a 30 year old resident seems to have found a way to do this, albeit short-lived. In early July it was found that a local carrier was alerted to the fact that a base station in the Nansha district of Guangzhou has become damaged and coverage in that location had become ‘paralyzed’ (their words) according to the investigation. When a team was sent to assess the problem it was discovered that the baseband processing modules were missing, causing the service shutdown.
Upon a police investigation it was discovered that two other cases of module theft had occurred nearby, with a total of a bit over $45,000 worth of equipment being stolen during the three incidents. With further investigation it was found that Mr. Moumou was ‘familiar’ with all three sites and was arrested. The eight most recent stolen modules were discovered but it was also found that most of the ~$890 he received for the stolen goods has already been spent on gambling and little was left. The police indicated that public facility theft, particularly copper network cables was serious problem years ago but as those lines were upgraded to fiber thieves began looking for new targets and Mr. Moumou was able to relatively easily gain access to the information he needed to figure out what parts of the base stations were most valuable, although poor fencing and a gambling habit were his eventual downfall, along with a meager 2% return on his ‘investment’. Since license plates are particularly hard to come by in China, Mr. Moumou should have focused on something a bit more profitable, although he might now be might be making the same plates he should have been appropriating.
It can be assumed that given the size of Guangzhou (~14m), a bit smaller than Beijing (~21m), there are ~35,000 5G base station across the city proper, helping to create a 5G network that covers much of the city. That said, aside from companies that produce, install, or maintain that 5G equipment, there are some who wish to profit from the 5G expansion in Guangzhou, and one Wu Moumou, a 30 year old resident seems to have found a way to do this, albeit short-lived. In early July it was found that a local carrier was alerted to the fact that a base station in the Nansha district of Guangzhou has become damaged and coverage in that location had become ‘paralyzed’ (their words) according to the investigation. When a team was sent to assess the problem it was discovered that the baseband processing modules were missing, causing the service shutdown.
Upon a police investigation it was discovered that two other cases of module theft had occurred nearby, with a total of a bit over $45,000 worth of equipment being stolen during the three incidents. With further investigation it was found that Mr. Moumou was ‘familiar’ with all three sites and was arrested. The eight most recent stolen modules were discovered but it was also found that most of the ~$890 he received for the stolen goods has already been spent on gambling and little was left. The police indicated that public facility theft, particularly copper network cables was serious problem years ago but as those lines were upgraded to fiber thieves began looking for new targets and Mr. Moumou was able to relatively easily gain access to the information he needed to figure out what parts of the base stations were most valuable, although poor fencing and a gambling habit were his eventual downfall, along with a meager 2% return on his ‘investment’. Since license plates are particularly hard to come by in China, Mr. Moumou should have focused on something a bit more profitable, although he might now be might be making the same plates he should have been appropriating.
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