Introduction: The pain of communication in the marine economy ‌
When offshore wind power platforms need to transmit operating data in real time, ocean-going cargo ships are eager to access intelligent logistics systems, and marine ranches rely on high-definition video surveillance, the shortcomings of 5G network coverage in the sea area have become a key bottleneck restricting development. The marine environment with high salt fog, strong corrosion, and drastic temperature changes has caused the performance of traditional metal antennas to drop sharply within a few months, and the coverage radius of base stations is generally less than 10 kilometers.

In 2024, this deadlock was broken by the technological innovation of Chinese companies-the ‌Fiberglass Smart Antenna‌ jointly developed by Huawei and Zhongtian Technology completed the world's first large-scale commercial test of offshore 5G base stations in the Zhoushan Islands of Zhejiang, with a coverage radius jumping from 12 kilometers to 18 kilometers and a signal stability increase of 90%. This cross-border revolution in materials and communication technology is injecting new momentum into the digital transformation of the marine economy.

‌1. Material Revolution: How FRP "tames" the marine environment‌
Traditional metal base station antennas face three fatal challenges in marine scenarios: salt spray corrosion causes gain attenuation, sea breeze vibration causes structural deformation, and ultraviolet radiation accelerates material aging. The three characteristics of FRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic) make it the key to breaking through:

‌1. Innate anti-corrosion gene‌
FRP uses epoxy resin as the matrix and glass fiber as the reinforcement material. Its salt spray resistance is 20 times that of aluminum alloy. In the accelerated aging test of a third-party laboratory, the gain attenuation of FRP antennas in a simulated marine environment for 5 years was only 0.8dB, while the attenuation of traditional aluminum antennas exceeded 3dB within 1 year.

‌2. Lightweight and high-strength design‌
Under the same size, the weight of FRP antennas is 40% lighter than that of metal antennas, and the wind load bearing capacity is increased by 50%. Zhongtian Technology's "Kunpeng" series antennas adopt a honeycomb sandwich structure with a bending strength of 320MPa, which can withstand the impact of a level 14 typhoon.

‌3. All-weather temperature adaptability‌
Within the extremely wide temperature range of -40℃ to 80℃, the thermal expansion coefficient of FRP is only 1/10 of that of metal, avoiding signal beam distortion caused by temperature difference. China Mobile's measured data in Bohai Bay shows that the performance fluctuation of FRP antenna in winter drops from ±2.5dB to ±0.3dB.

‌II. Technological breakthrough: from structural innovation to intelligent algorithm‌
Material advantages need to be deeply integrated with communication technology. The performance leap of FRP antenna depends on four core technologies:

‌1. Three-dimensional conformal array design‌
Breaking through the limitations of traditional planar arrays, 128 antenna oscillators are embedded in the FRP substrate in a curved arrangement, the horizontal beam width is expanded from 65° to 120°, and the vertical beam downtilt angle accuracy reaches 0.1°. Huawei's test shows that this design reduces the blind area of ​​sea coverage by 70%.

‌2. Intelligent anti-salt spray coating‌
The surface is sprayed with nano-scale hydrophobic material, the water droplet contact angle is greater than 150°, and the salt spray deposition is reduced by 90%. With the self-cleaning electric field technology, the base station operation and maintenance cycle is extended from 3 months to 2 years.

‌3. Multi-band fusion calibration algorithm‌
In response to the multipath reflection interference on the sea surface, ZTE has developed the "Dolphin" adaptive algorithm to dynamically adjust the weights of the Sub-6GHz and millimeter wave bands. In the Qingdao Port test, the transmission rate can still be maintained at 1Gbps when the wave height is 4 meters.

‌4. Offshore energy autonomous system‌
Integrated wind power-photovoltaic-fuel cell hybrid power supply module, the single station has a battery life of more than 72 hours. The fiberglass base station deployed by Telenor in the North Sea oil field has achieved 100% off-grid operation.

‌III. Application landing: a coverage revolution from offshore to offshore‌
In 2024, fiberglass antennas have been applied on a large scale in three major scenarios:

‌Scenario 1: Offshore wind power operation and maintenance communication‌
State Power Investment Jiangsu Rudong offshore wind farm, 40 fiberglass base stations build a 5G private network:

The coverage radius is 18 kilometers, and the return delay of wind turbine vibration data is less than 10ms.
The efficiency of automatic inspection by drones has increased by 4 times, reducing the number of sea trips of operation and maintenance ships by 300 times each year.
It is estimated that a single wind farm can save more than 20 million yuan in operation and maintenance costs annually.
Scenario 2: Smart Ports and Shipping
The Shanghai Yangshan Port Phase IV Terminal deploys a fiberglass base station group:

The remote control accuracy of the quay crane is at the millimeter level, and the loading and unloading efficiency has increased by 30%.
The positioning error of the container has been reduced from 10 meters to 0.5 meters, and the turnover rate of the yard has decreased by 25%.
Maersk Shipping's actual measurement shows that ocean-going cargo ships can still access the port area's 5G private network 50 kilometers offshore.
Scenario 3: Marine Ranch and Ecological Monitoring
Dalian Zhangzidao has built the world's first "sea-sky integrated" 5G monitoring network:

The underwater camera transmits 4K video back through the base station, and the AI ​​recognition accuracy of scallop diseases exceeds 99%.
Dissolved oxygen, water temperature and other data are uploaded in real time, and the accuracy of bait feeding is improved by 40%.
The sea surface buoy base station encountered a level 16 typhoon "Meihua" and operated without any failure, and its disaster resistance was verified.
‌Fourth, industrial chain resonance: Activating the trillion-level marine economy‌
The commercial use of fiberglass antennas has driven the upgrading of the entire industrial chain from materials to services:

‌Material supplier‌: China Jushi Group has developed special glass fiber for the sea, which has increased corrosion resistance by 50% and reduced costs by 30%.
‌Equipment supplier‌: Ericsson launched the "Poseidon" series of base stations, integrating sonar and AIS ship positioning functions, and the accuracy of marine target tracking is up to 10 meters.
‌Operator‌: China Unicom has released the "Ocean 5G+" plan, and will build 3,000 offshore base stations by 2025, covering China's 18,000 kilometers of coastline.
‌Policy dividend‌: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "Guidelines for the Construction of Marine 5G Private Networks" requires that the coverage rate of key sea areas exceed 80% by 2026, and it is expected to drive investment of more than 50 billion yuan.
‌V. Challenges and the future: marching towards the deep sea and intelligence‌
Despite significant breakthroughs, FRP antennas still need to overcome three major challenges:

‌Ultra-long-distance coverage‌: The signal attenuation in the sea area 200 kilometers away reaches 150dB. Huawei is developing terahertz relay drones to break the coverage limit.
‌Biological adhesion protection‌: Marine organisms such as barnacles may affect the performance of antennas. The Ningbo Institute of Materials of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a bionic antifouling coating, which reduces the adhesion rate by 95%.
‌Cost optimization‌: The current cost of a single FRP base station is about 250,000 yuan, and it is expected to drop to 150,000 yuan through large-scale production in 2025.
In the future, the path of technological evolution is clear:

‌Deep-sea base station‌: China Telecom and CNOOC have jointly developed a FRP base station with a pressure resistance of 6,000 meters, and will challenge the Mariana Strait communication test in 2026.
‌AI self-optimization‌: Nokia Bell Labs trains a wave prediction model, and the base station can adjust the beam in advance to deal with surge interference.
‌Green Recycling‌: Zhongtian Technology has built a fiberglass antenna recycling production line, with a material recycling rate of 98% and a 70% reduction in carbon emissions.
‌Conclusion: Redefining the boundaries of marine communications‌
When fiberglass antennas push 5G signals to the deeper blue, the way humans talk to the ocean is being completely rewritten. This breakthrough is not only a victory for materials, but also a strategic leap for China's communications industry from land to sea. In the tide of smart ports, green energy, and ecological protection, each offshore base station stands like a lighthouse, illuminating the way for the future of the marine economy - there is the power of technology and infinite possibilities.