China’s cell phone infrastructure is about to get an upgrade as the country plans to expand its 4G network to all urban and rural areas by 2018.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) made the announcement on Monday, stating the network expansion is part of a three-year action plan to complete, ” broadband-based, integrated, ubiquitous and secure next-generation national information infrastructure.”

To realize the plan, the Ministry will continue to promote 4G services as well as develop next-generation 5G infrastructure, which will include installation of fiber optics in more than 80 percent of China’s villages.

The number of Chinese 4G users continues to grow at an astounding rate. China Mobile alone expects its 4G subscriber base to top 500 million next year, up from the current 200 million.

There is also China’s “Internet Plus” action plan, which aims to integrate mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things to develop e-commerce, industrial networks, and Internet banking.