23 February 2016, Shenzhen, China – – ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, today announced that it has signed a Pre5G memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hutchison Drei Austria (hereinafter referred to as "Drei") to build the first Pre5G trial site in Europe. 

In 2010, Drei chose ZTE as its strategic partner for modernizing its RAN and core network, towards a high capacity network with a full nationwide 2G, 3G, and 4G footprint today. Since then, Drei's wireless network has won the award for Best Network of the Year in Austria several times reflecting its excellent performance. 

Matthias Baldermann, CTO of Drei, said: "Hutchison Drei Austria will continue to provide the best experience to our customers. We will explore new technologies to better meet their growing needs. We expect ZTE to stay pacemaker for important technology developments and this partnership shall derive technology advances tangible to our customers." 

By focusing on mobile operators’ core needs, ZTE has taken the lead with its Pre5G concept. ZTE’s proposal involves using core 5G technologies already on 4G networks to effectively alleviate the pressure of the data traffic surge on telecom operators’ networks before the standardization of 5G technologies comes into place. In 2015, ZTE's Pre5G Massive MIMO (multiple input multiple output) base station passed field tests on many operators' networks, and will be commercially available on a large scale in 2016. 

Xu Huijun, CTO of ZTE, said: "As the world's leading provider of ICT solutions, ZTE is a pioneer in the field of 5G, and considers it to be a core strategy. We believe that the application of Pre5G will help Hutchison Drei Austria maintain its performance as the best network in Austria, and enable it to build a world-class network." 

ZTE Pre5G Massive MIMO products have won a number of awards. In March, the products won the Innovative Solution and Fastest Market Development Award 2014 at an award ceremony held by the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) in Barcelona. In May, ZTE and the China Mobile Research Institute won the Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation award for Pre5G products at the Global Telecom Business (GTB) Innovation Awards 2014. In June, ZTE was awarded the 2015 Global Technology Innovation Award in 5G Networks by Frost & Sullivan, one of the world's leading consulting firms, which recognised ZTE's outstanding performance and achievements in 5G technology innovation, and its leading position in the industry.