ZTE, in partnership with China Telecom and China Unicom, has completed the network verification based on the “co-build co-share” mode in the commercial 5G environment, launching 5G Nonstandalone co-build/co-share sites which support 1.8 GHz/2.1 GHz/3.5 GHz in Hangzhou, China, the vendor said in a release.
“That fully verifies the large-scale commercial capabilities of the 5G co-build/co-share mode, and lays a solid foundation for greatly reducing initial investment in 5G and efficiently promoting 5G constructions,” ZTE said.
The verification, based on the real 5G commercial network environment, covers the basic functions of network selection and anchor carrier triggering, network management functions of rights management and northbound interface in the DT environment, as well as multi-dimensional deep network sharing capability verification, such as multi-vendor, multi-operator mobility, the company said.
“The co-build/co-share mode is capable of providing the broadband multi-operator 5G services on the same 5G base station, and reasonably allocating spectrum resources based on user requirements and service requirements. It fully demonstrates the system’s stability and outstanding performance, as well as its complete capacity for large-scale commercial use,” ZTE added.
Compared with the original construction strategy that each operator implement to deploy its own 5G networks, 5G co-build/co-share sites across operators will effectively save investment in 5G networks, ZTE added. “By promoting the sharing of infrastructure between operators, the co-build/co-share mode can help operators build 5G networks with lower costs and more effective methods,” the vendor said.
In September, China Telecom and China Unicom signed the 5G network co-build co-share framework cooperation agreement. As a strategic partner of China Telecom and China Unicom, ZTE said it fully supports their network construction and service operation. “ZTE has innovatively proposed a flexible ultra-broadband spectrum application solution to support the co-build co-share mode, which helps reduce infrastructure construction costs, thereby further realizing the economic and social value of 5G.”
The Chinese vendor also said that it will continue to partner with China Telecom and China Unicom to explore the applications of new 5G technologies in commercial networks and improve network quality.
ZTE has surpassed the milestone of 60 agreements with operators worldwide in the field of 5G, James Zhang, a senior VP at the Chinese vendor, recently told RCR Wireless News.
“We had cooperation agreements with 60 operators globally in 5G-related areas by mid-year and we have dramatically surpassed that figure. However we cannot provide the specific number yet,” the executive said on the sidelines of the ZTE’s Global Wireless User Congress and 5G Summit which took place last month in Vienna, Austria.
ZTE had previously announced that it had signed commercial 5G contracts with 25 operators globally.
The company’s President of Global Sales, Xiao Ming, highlighted that ZTE has been actively working with the three Chinese carriers in the development of 5G field trials across that country. “We expect to start seeing large 5G commercial networks in China at the beginning of next year,” Ming said.
ZTE has already deployed tens of thousands of 5G base stations for Chinese carriers China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.
