Weaving a smart green private network to safeguard the Yellow River Delta
China Mobile Shandong
Challenge
The Yellow River, the world’s most sediment-laden waterway, deposits nearly 200 million tonnes of silt at its estuary each year, causing recurrent flooding, severe wetland degradation in the delta, and mounting threats to biodiversity. Ecological monitoring has long relied on manual methods — boats venturing into the estuary, vehicles patrolling river segments — resulting in poor data timeliness and accuracy and severely undermining conservation outcomes. The pressing challenge: how to harness digital and intelligent tools to protect both avian life and their habitats, ensure reliable power supply, and drive high-quality ecological stewardship of the Yellow River.
Solution
China Mobile Shandong has deployed China’s first 5G private network for ecological monitoring and protection at the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, integrating 5G, AI, big data, IoT, and digital twin technologies into a smart green private network. The 700 MHz solution: After evaluating all options (4G/5G bands, wireless bridges, and wired connections), the team chose 5G 700 MHz for its wide coverage, low investment cost, minimal construction footprint in the reserve, and optimal energy efficiency, achieving low-impact, high-reliability coverage from land to sea. Ninety-eight macro base stations minimize the total site count, while a simplified 5G LAN architecture enables Layer 2 communication and a ring network with primary and backup UPF ensures data security.
A comprehensive 5G+ sensing network: One hundred and eighty 5G cameras, drones, and video conferencing devices deliver three dimensions of full coverage. 5G video feeds with LED PTZ floodlights monitor key infrastructure 24/7 over several kilometers; 5G + BeiDou drone platforms execute pre-programmed patrols and build a real-time database of riverbank and levee conditions; a digital twin platform with AI analytics detects the four river disorders and embankment collapses; 5G + VR enables real-time monitoring of Oriental white stork habitats, population counts, and distribution; 5G + AI rapidly identifies and controls poaching and other violations in key avian migration zones.
Green infrastructure innovation: A 2.6 GHz + 700 MHz dual-frequency, layered land-to-sea design was adopted; decommissioned offshore drilling platforms were repurposed as base station sites; a novel 5G + CPE mode solves signal blockage when vessels turn; and 180 solar-powered monitoring points eliminate the need for cable laying, minimizing environmental impact.
Impact & Value
Economic: Next-generation IT has enabled full automation of Yellow River basin management, reducing network construction costs by 40% and labor costs by 80%; the Yellow River Estuary Eco-Tourism Zone now serves approximately 860,000 annual visitors, indirectly stimulating eco-tourism and smart agriculture.
Social: Monitoring data supports early warning for floods, salinization, and other hazards, safeguarding lives and property; improved regional ecological quality enhances livability; open data platforms boost public awareness, foster research collaboration, and nurture environmental tech talent; ecological data guides sustainable agriculture, raising farmer incomes.
Environmental: 2025 monitoring data recorded 296 wintering red-crowned cranes with 12 breeding nests, making the reserve the species’ southernmost wild breeding site; Oriental white storks reached a record 233 nests and 536 individuals, with cumulative breeding reaching 4,260; and the Saunders’s gull population remains stable at over 10,000 — biodiversity indicators continue to improve year on year.
The project has been covered by CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, and People’s Daily, and recognized by the Shandong provincial government and Department of Ecology and Environment.
The project of China South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route is a grand project for ecological conservation and livelihood improvement, which plays a crucial role in protecting construction safety, water security and water quality. Nanyang Branch of China Mobile Group Henan Co., Ltd. leverages the technological advantages of China Mobile such as 5G+AICDE to carry out smart construction for integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts. Efforts are made to implement monitoring and early warning of geological disasters, smart supervision over sand mining, smart forestry, and 5G-based emergency management, etc. In this way, the ecosystem of water sources is well protected, building an emergency safety fortress in the watersheds.