Embracing 5G Era

 

 

5G was a major focus of MWC Shanghai held June 26-28. John Hoffman, CEO and Director for GSMA Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the GSMA, talked about the great prospects of 5G and the leading role played by ZTE in 5G development. Zhang Jianpeng, SVP of ZTE, shared with us ZTE's progress in 5G.

How do you perceive the prospect of 5G development and applications? 

John Hoffman: As we launch 5G not only here in China but also around the world, we are going to see tremendous take-up of this new great technology. What I think is really interesting is that in Asia, specifically here in China, we lead the way in 5G. So we have to be prepared to showcase what great innovation comes out of this region and around the world for others to see and emulate. That starts with companies like ZTE with their great solutions deployed not only here in China but in other places where 5G is going to radically change the way we live and work. It's a great opportunity. I am super excited about it.

What cooperation does GSMA currently have with ZTE and what's your comment on ZTE's innovation capability in the 5G field?  

John Hoffman: GSMA and ZTE have a long-standing era of cooperation. We work together on technical solutions. But not only just technical solutions, but I think it is great that we work together on long-term vision of where the industry is headed, this roadmap, the opportunity to work together for the betterment of all mobile users around the world. It's a great opportunity and one that we here at GSMA are very thankful for. Participation not only in our working groups but in our events, convening the industry as we are here in Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai, MWC Barcelona and other 36 events around the world. It's a long-standing and very mutually beneficial relationship we have. 

China has already issued 5G commercial licenses. How does this promote the 5G industry? Could you also introduce to us ZTE's 5G progress in the global market? 

Zhang Jianpeng: The mobile technology is innovating very fast. During the past history, almost every 10 years, a new generation of technology would be applied. This year is the first year of the 5G commercialization. The initial few years of any new technology is a key period. The transition to 5G is happening faster than the 4G age. We need to pay high attention to several key points: the first challenge is the large-scale deployment; the second, the business case; and the third, the customer experience. 

ZTE is a major player in the Chinese market and we treat it as our mission to develop ourselves in the 5G journey. Up to now, we've already shipped more than 50,000 5G base stations, and in as early as 2014, we started the research and applied the key technology of 5G even in the 4G age. All these help us accumulate a lot of experience in improving the customer experience and help us study large-scale deployment. I believe that such a large market as China will develop our experience in all industries and a lot of new services and business models will appear. Thus, it will help us transfer such kind of experience to all the global operators.

Up till now, ZTE has got more than 25 5G commercial contracts. Also we have started the cooperation with more than 60 partners globally. All these give us a chance to serve our customers better, and we are ready for that. We are a pioneer in 5G. We have a duty to do this great job!