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ZTE Helps CSL Deploy First LTE Commercial Trial Network in Hong Kong

In March 2009, CSL, Hong Kong’s leading mobile operator, together with ZTE, announced that they had deployed the world’s first large-scale HSPA+ all-IP commercial network with download rates of up to 21Mbps, which brought a “shock” to the mobile operating market of Hong Kong. Only half a year later, on Sept 2, 2009, CSL and ZTE jointly held an event to demonstrate new LTE technology with peak download rates in excess of 120Mbps, and CSL promised to build the LTE commercial network in Hong Kong in Q4 2009.

At the event, ZTE revealed details of the plans for CSL’s Next G network and demonstrated LTE services to the friendly users and 150 media reporters from all over the world. “By using LTE technology, it only takes 0.5 second to download an MP3, 5 seconds a music album, and only 10 seconds a movie with 100M,” CSL’s Chief Technology Officer, Mr Christian Daigneault said. The download speed surprised all the audience. Mr. Tarek A. Robbiati, Chief Executive Officer of CSL, said, “LTE is no longer a lab technology, and we have experienced its charm today. In the future, we will work closely with ZTE to enable the people of Hong Kong to enjoy the fast and reliable LTE services anywhere.”

The showcased LTE equipment looks no different from the 2G/3G equipment utilized currently by CSL as it employs ZTE unified Software Defined Radio (SDR) platform, which can accomplish smooth network migration with only software upgrade. The current CSL 2G/3G network adopts the SDR technology and can easily achieve flexible network upgrade or enable coexistence of 2G, 3G, and 4G systems.

Long-term coexistence of 2G, 3G and LTE is a mobile telecommunication trend, so it will be difficult for an operator to maintain its leading position in the new round of competition. The accelerating competition, disappointed financial payback on 3G and global economic slowdown aggravate many problems in the telecom industry such as reduced investment, decreasing Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), high maintenance cost of aging equipment. There are more and more factors that operators need to consider when making LTE network planning, such as Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings, investment protection, easy and flexible operation and maintenance, compatibility with other networks and service’s competitiveness and potential profitability.

To solve the above problems, ZTE launches its leading-edge Uni-RAN solution based on its unified SDR platform and end-to-end LTE solutions, which can help operators stand out in the competitive markets in the LTE era.  

SDR Simplifying Complex Network

SDR is an innovative technology that leads to a revolution in the whole wireless broadband field. CSL deployed ZTE’s state-of-the-art SDR technology, which not only reflects its keen pursuit of advanced technology and high network quality but also its precise grasp of future technical development trend. Thanks to SDR, the maximum download and upload speeds of the HSPA network have been improved to 14.4Mbps HSDPA and 5.76Mbps HSUPA respectively. In the near future, the network can be migrated to LTE with only software upgrade and the people of Hong Kong can experience the world’s fastest mobile broadband network.

Mr. Robbiati announced in the press conference that CSL had signed a contract with ZTE on LTE commercial network deployment at the end of 2009 and the network would be the world’s first dual-band LTE commercial network operating at 2.6GHz and 1.8GHz. “CSL adopts ZTE unified SDR platform and it can migrate to 4G network flexibly. The construction cost will be significantly reduced and the network construction speed will be much faster than other operators,” said Mr. Robbiati.

However, more than a year ago, CSL faced many challenges. Its rivals had delivered 3.6Mbps or even 7.2Mbps HSPA services, while CSL HSDPA network could only support 1.8Mbps. Its leading image was greatly affected. Even worse, the high maintenance cost and weak competitiveness of data services of its previous four networks, which have two standards and three bands, stood in the way of network optimization, convergence and smooth evolution. Thus, CSL decided to adopt new technology to have a thorough network optimization and upgrade. It required the supplier to not only integrate its existing networks into a single network but also transform them to HSPA+ and LTE.

After many technical discussions, a lot of field research and comprehensive comparison of solutions of different telecom vendors, CSL finally chose ZTE’s Uni-RAN solution based on SDR technology. The Uni-RAN solution can accomplish multi-network convergence and significantly improve the network performance.

According to the plan, ZTE will replace the existing 2,800 base stations with its SDR base stations gradually, and the replacement process is divided into 3 stages: In the first stage, ZTE will use SDR equipment to replace WCDMA 2100MHz equipment and establish some new sites; in the second stage, all the GSM 900MHz and 1800MHZ equipment will be replaced, and a WCDMA 900MHZ network will be deployed; in the third stage, the network will be upgraded to support 64QAM and MIMO functions, and a high-speed HSPA+/LTE network will be launched. 

Fast customization Meeting Customer Needs

Actually there was a small episode during the cooperation between ZTE and CSL. In March 2009, ZTE and CSL announced availability of the HSPA+ commercial network with high-speed wireless download rates of up to 21Mbps. In order to consolidate its network leadership in Hong Kong and continuously exceed customer expectations, CSL decided to deploy the first LTE network in Hong Kong. ZTE was under great pressure at that time as the LTE standards were just finished. After thorough communication between both sides, ZTE committed more resources on LTE system, spent only several months to bring out products and functions ahead of the schedule, and achieved satisfying results in this demonstration. Mr Daigneault said, “ZTE is strong in R&D and quick in response. We hope for further cooperation with ZTE. We will build a large-scale LTE commercial trial network at the end of 2009.”

It can be expected the coming 4G technology brought by CSL will lead the wireless telecommunication market and bring an extremely fast experience to the people of Hong Kong.