The vendor said the new 5G base stations have passed trials in China and other countries
BARCELONA–ZTE has unveiled its series of new-generation 5G base stations at Mobile World Congress 2018, which takes place in Barcelona, Spain, this week.
The Chinese vendor highlighted that the new generation of 5G high/low frequency AAU supports the 3GPP 5G NR standard and mainstream 5G spectrum used across the telecom industry.
ZTE also highlighted that the new 5G base stations have been tested by operators in China and in other countries around the world.
ZTE 5G low-frequency AAU has reached a peak throughput of 19 Gbps, in the low-frequency eMBB test scenario during the national 5G tests in China, the vendor said.
At MWC 2018, ZTE also unveiled its new NG baseband unit (BBU), which is the upgraded version of the IT baseband unit, a SDN/NFV-based 5G wireless access product which had been released in 2017.
With SDN/NFV virtualization technologies, the ZTE NG BBU is compatible with 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, and also supports C-RANs, D-RANs, and 5G CUs/DUs. ZTE explained that the new solution allows telcos to deploy vertical services and achieve multi-scenario deployments, thereby accelerating network deployment and optimization.
The company also highlighted that ZTE’s 5G full series of pre-commercial base stations passed the phase II of the national 5G tests in China.
Regarding the company’s 5G strategy, the Asian vendor had announced plans to deploy commercial pre-5G solutions by the end of 2018 followed by the launch of 5G products in commercial networks during the first half of 2019.
ZTE, together with Qualcomm and China Mobile are scheduled to jointly demonstrate what it claims to be the world’s first 5G New Radio (NR) Interoperability Data Testing (IoDT) system (3.5 GHz) with a data connection based on 3GPP Release 15.
At the world’s largest telecommunication event, ZTE is also showcasing its 4G and 5G hybrid networking solutions and other solutions that can help operators quickly incorporate and deploy 5G solutions on their existing 4G network infrastructure, as well as the latest Pre 5G products.
In 2017, ZTE carried out 5G tests with mobile operators including China Mobile and Wind Tre (Italy). Earlier this month, ZTE signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rome City Council to take part in the forthcoming trials of 5G and future Wi-Fi technologies. ZTE Italy has recently inaugurated a 5G innovation and research centre in the city of L’Aquila.
ZTE expects to see revenues from the sale of standardized 5G equipment in 2019, the company’s managing director for 5G solutions, Alex Wang, previously told reporters during a press conference on the sidelines of an industry event in Japan last year. The executive said the company expects to see higher revenues from the sale of 5G-related equipment from 2020 onwards.
The Chinese vendor has already signed strategic partnerships on research and development with mobile operators including Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, SoftBank, KT Group, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom.
The vendor also announced plans to launch 5G mobile devices in late 2018 or early 2019. 5G tablets, CPE, and smartphones are all under development and will be launched once leading carriers around the world provide 5G service to consumers, ZTE said.
