Asian telcos expressed interest in trialling ZTE multi-user shared access technology
SHANGHAI – Chinese vendor ZTE announced its cooperation with more than 10 operators on pre-“5G” technologies in a move to speed up the evolution of “4G” networks.
The vendor’s pre-5G initiatives include massive multiple-input/multiple-output antenna technology, ultra-dense networks and multi-user shared access. Pre-5G is seen an intermediate technology between 4G and 5G that combines 5G technology with 4G devices to allow faster access speeds.
ZTE said it carried out a commercial MIMO test with China Mobile in November 2015. ZTE also claims to have completed a MIMO field trial with Japanese mobile operator SoftBank in Tokyo late last year.
ZTE is currently in talks with a number of Asian mobile operators to test its MUSA technology, the company’s chief scientist Xiang Jiying told reporters during a presentation at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2016 event. Jiying said ZTE is currently working with the Chinese government in a broad national program for the development of 5G technologies in the country. The country’s three largetst mobile operators – China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom – as well as other vendors, are part of the initiative.
“The program, which is being sponsored by the government has three phases. The initial phase will take place during 2016, and will mainly include lab tests of 5G technologies. The second phase will take place in 2017, and the last phase of the project will take place in 2018. These two last phases will include field trials of 5G technologies,” Jiying said, noting the field trials will be carried out in Beijing.
Jiying also mentioned a recent memorandum of understanding signed between the Chinese vendor and Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica for the development of 5G technologies. The agreement calls for ZTE and Telefonica to explore more opportunities for cooperation across different industries in areas such as advanced wireless communications, “internet of things,” network virtualization architectures and cloud.
Jiying also said ZTE is currently working with a number of chip makers including Intel and Qualcomm on pre-5G and 5G projects