MOU to cover cooperation on R&D, evaluation and verification of pre5G technology

10 July 2015, Tokyo – ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, announced the company signed a memorandum of understanding with SoftBank Corp. to collaborate on research and development on Pre5G mobile communications networks technology.

Under the MOU, the two companies will cooperate on R&D, evaluation and verification of mobile communications solutions based on ZTE’s Pre5G technology, including Massive MIMO (multiple input multiple output). The agreement builds on existing cooperation between SoftBank and ZTE on technologies including Massive MIMO, UDN (ultra-dense networks) and MUSA (multi-user shared access).

ZTE’s Massive MIMO base stations have the capability to support more than 100 antenna elements, and provide higher space division multiplexing gains than traditional 8-antenna base stations without changing existing terminals or air interfaces, greatly enhancing spectrum utilization. With ZTE’s Massive MIMO base station, up to eight users can transfer data simultaneously.

Keiichi Makizono, Senior Vice President of SoftBank, said, "The technology being developed under this agreement will help define future Mobile Internet communications. In our plans to develop next-generation mobile networks, SoftBank will derive large benefits from the Pre5G collaboration with ZTE.”

Zhang Renjun, Senior Vice President of ZTE, said, “The agreement with SoftBank will add enormous value to ZTE’s technology alliances with our partners around the world on 5G research, as we are committed to building an industry ecosystem based on open collaboration. As a globally-leading provider of M-ICT mobile technologies, ZTE is making great investments in 5G to lead the industry in the development of this key technology of the future.”

Japan has always been at the forefront of the world in the field of communications technologies. In the 5G field, Japan is expected to be the industry leader of 5G networks, paving the way for making its 5G technology a global standard. Massive MIMO technology provides higher, farther, and deeper coverage than traditional LTE technologies while significantly lowering base station energy consumption, to achieve the ultimate goal of green communications. These advantages can greatly improve the performance of existing AXGP networks. In the practical prototype demonstration, the Pre5G Massive MIMO base station achieved an outstanding result in multi-user 3D coverage far beyond expectations.

ZTE’s Pre5G Massive MIMO products have won numerous global awards. In March, ZTE Pre5G Massive MIMO products won the Innovative Solution and Fastest Market Development Award 2014 at the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) awards in Barcelona. In May, ZTE and China Telecom won the Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation award for Pre5G products at the Global Telecom Business (GTB) Innovation Awards. 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, in recognition of ZTE's outstanding performance and achievements in 5G technology innovation, and leading position in the industry.