(Yicai Global) March 23 -- The government of Chongqing, one of China's four direct-controlled municipalities, has put the region's largest narrowband Internet of Things into operation.

China Mobile Ltd., which built the network, held an opening ceremony at a local branch to celebrate its inauguration, state-run China News Service reported. The NB-IOT spans 5,300 base stations that cover the entire urban area of the southwestern city, connecting almost 10 million devices.

The local IOT market has reached a crucial stage of development as the sector begins to integrate, Deputy Mayor Li Dianxun said at the opening, adding that there were more than 400 IOT firms in the city as of the end of last year. 

China Mobile aims to expand the network to include 20,000 NB-IOT base stations and connect about 30 million devices, more than the population of Chongqing, which would mark a sector milestone nationwide, the report added.

The firm also announced it had begun building a local fifth-generation (5G) communication network to lay the foundations for the technology's commercialization, which China plans to roll out nationwide by 2020. The tech is already in its final stages of standardization, Securities Daily quoted former China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou as saying at a forum earlier this month.