ZTE Honored with Two GeSI DWP Global Awards for Signal Reach Program in Africa

• ZTE's Signal Reach Program in Africa has won two Digital with Purpose (DWP) honors from GeSI at the DWP Global Summit Shenzhen 2026
• Deployed across more than 20 African nations, the initiative bridges the digital divide by bringing connectivity, green energy, and digital services to millions of underserved residents
• Chen Zhiping, Chief International Ecosystem Representative of ZTE, shared insights on how digital technologies can provide a solid foundation for sustainable development worldwide

Shenzhen, China, June 29, 2026 - ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, has received two prestigious Digital with Purpose (DWP) honors - the Smart Cities Award and the Global Award - for its Signal Reach Program in Africa at the DWP Global Summit Shenzhen 2026. 

The awards span three core categories: Climate, Smart Cities, and Health & Wellbeing. In addition, the event presents the coveted Global Award as its supreme annual honor. Dubbed the Award of the Awards, it is the year's sole top overall prize, selected from outstanding entries across all category divisions.

The Signal Reach Program in Africa distinguished itself among a competitive field of global submissions for its innovation, impact, and alignment with the values of purposeful digital transformation. These honors underscore ZTE's large-scale efforts to drive digital transformation in remote regions and highlight its significant contribution to advancing global sustainable development and closing the digital divide.

Hosted by the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), the summit brought together global leaders from government, business, academia, and research to explore the pathway of digital technology for good. As one of the most influential international awards under the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the DWP Global Awards celebrate exemplary global projects that leverage digital technology innovation to promote social equity, environmental sustainability, and inclusive growth.

Chen Zhiping, Chief International Ecosystem Representative of ZTE, accepted the awards on behalf of the company, underscoring ZTE's commitment to advancing global sustainable development and digital inclusion.

She emphasized that the Signal Reach Program in Africa is not merely a communication technology initiative, but a locally rooted social responsibility project. Winning the two awards is a strong recognition of ZTE's long-standing commitment to the Tech for Good principle. ZTE will continue to leverage its technological strengths and collaborate with customers, NGOs, and partners across local communities to contribute to the realization of the UN SDGs.

Addressing the pain point of weak infrastructure in remote and rural areas of Africa, the program is driven by the core philosophy of "ubiquitous connectivity, green energy, and inclusive sharing". It features the innovative "Rural Ecosystem" end-to-end solution, integrating "EcoSite + EcoEnergy + EcoDevice" to build a comprehensive digital ecosystem covering infrastructure, energy supply, and terminal access.

The Rural EcoSite solution utilizes highly integrated equipment and various backhaul options, supporting flexible evolution from 2G/3G/4G to 5G. During construction, the innovative Lego-type modular tower drastically simplifies and accelerates deployment, shortening the average construction time by over 60% and reducing overall construction costs by 70%. To overcome the bottleneck of a lack of grid power in some remote areas, the Rural EcoEnergy solution provides a 100% solar-powered system equipped with high-efficiency PV panels and smart lithium batteries, managed by the iEnergy platform to realize dynamic load adjustment and remote monitoring. In actual deployments, some sites can even provide electricity for local villagers. For operation and maintenance (O&M), the solution supports end-to-end network management, with remote O&M simplifying processes and improving maintainability. The Rural EcoDevice solution delivers cost-effective smartphones, MiFi, and CPE terminal devices tailored for the African market, significantly lowering the barrier to digital access. Coupled with customized low-tariff data packages and digital skills training provided by operators, this solution successfully bridges the "last mile" of digital services.

To date, the program has been deployed at scale in more than 20 African countries, including Liberia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Algeria, South Africa, and Egypt. In Liberia, Orange Liberia and ZTE have delivered inclusive digital, financial, and energy services to over one million users in more than 200 low-density rural communities. In Ethiopia, Ethio Telecom and ZTE have brought stable network services to over 100 low-density areas, fostering the wide application of digital technologies in livelihood sectors such as electronic payments, remote education, and environmental protection. In the central-southern and eastern regions of Cameroon, the large-scale deployment of rural base stations and a 360-kilometer backbone microwave link has built a systematic rural communication reinforcement network, significantly enhancing mobile coverage density and quality to serve nearly 15 million people. In Egypt, high-speed broadband networks have been built for over 1,500 villages, covering nearly 10 million people. These achievements have not only realized extensive coverage of communication infrastructure but also effectively driven the inclusive development of digital technology in livelihood sectors.

During the summit, Chen Zhiping joined the roundtable forum "Digital - The Backbone for a Sustainable Future", engaging with global leaders in digital sustainability. Drawing on ZTE's extensive practices in global ICT infrastructure development, she shared insights on how digital technologies can provide a solid foundation for sustainable development worldwide.

Chen Zhiping highlighted, "Sustainable development is not only about carbon reduction, but more importantly about ensuring universal access to digital opportunities. Affordable, green, and inclusive digital infrastructure is the cornerstone of a sustainable future". She also emphasized ZTE's commitment to open collaboration, noting that the company actively shares its experiences while advancing its own digital and sustainable transformation, and expressed ZTE's readiness to work with global enterprises and international organizations to co-create a digital-for-purpose ecosystem.

Guided by its people-centric philosophy, ZTE is dedicated to ensuring that people across different regions enjoy equal communication rights and digital opportunities. Moving forward, ZTE will continue to deepen its commitment to green communications, digital inclusion, and low--carbon operations, driving the ICT industry toward greater inclusiveness, intelligence, and sustainability, and jointly building a brighter digital future.