News Brief

The Story of LTE in Hong Kong Told at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

CSL and ZTE announces details of the first phase of commercial LTE trial in Hong Kong on CSL’s NextG™ network

February 16, 2010, Barcelona ― CSL, Hong Kong’s leading mobile network operator, its parent company Telstra, and ZTE, unveiled the milestones achieved since the launch of NextG™, Hong Kong’s leading mobile network.

In March 2009, CSL unveiled the commercial launch of NextG™, the award-winning All-IP mobile broadband network. NextG™ was the world’s first SDR-based HSPA+ All-IP network. With peak download speeds up to 21Mbps and offering the widest coverage in Hong Kong, the network provides unrivalled mobility and performance.

NextG™’s SDR capability enables CSL to rapidly evolve from 3G to LTE through a software upgrade. This combined with CSL’s LTE spectrum (awarded by auction in 2009) means that CSL has set out a smooth and readily accessible path to LTE.

In September 2009, CSL, Telstra and ZTE announced the commencement of a LTE commercial trial network and demonstrated speeds up to 127Mbps utilizing this technology, a first for Asia and one of the first in the world.

Today, CSL, Telstra and ZTE announced the progress of the LTE trial which has seen 20 active and fully operational LTE cell sites rolled out in Hong Kong. These sites are currently being trialed as CSL, Telstra and ZTE examine the capabilities and characteristics of the next generation of mobile technologies.

CSL’s CTO, Mr. Christian Daigneault said, “A unique aspect of this trial is that it has moved out of the laboratory and ‘into the streets’. We are now testing the cell sites with a ‘consumer ready’ LTE USB modem and field trials of this are presently being conducted throughout our LTE network. We are very pleased with the results of these trials and the USB modem is performing extremely well, showing peak download speeds upwards of 100Mbps on the streets of Hong Kong. This means that maybe we have to revisit the time in which LTE will be commercially available and rolled out in networks across the world.”

The evolution of the LTE network in Hong Kong has been a hot topic in the industry over the last year as CSL and ZTE pioneer new wireless uses for consumers and enterprises in the city and position themselves at the forefront of the global mobile telecommunications industry.

Tarek Robbiati, Group Managing Director of Telstra International and CEO of CSL, also pointed out the stark changes in usage patterns since the launch of NextG™. Mr. Robbiati said, “Data traffic has increased by 20 times over that of the legacy 3G network and has now eclipsed voice traffic within our network. With the constant evolution of the network to higher speeds toward LTE and the proliferation of Smartphones and other devices, CSL expects the exponential growth in data traffic in Hong Kong to continue for many years. CSL will continue the investment in LTE technology to build one of the world’s most advanced networks in Hong Kong. This will deliver on our promise to our customers of a true mobile broadband service that helps them live their lives in the way that they want; in Hong Kong that means on the move and always connected.”

ZTE Introduces World’s First Ultra-Slim Big-Screen BMP 3G Smartphone

Company to offer complete family of smartphones to European Market in 2010

15 February 2010, Barcelona ― ZTE introduced at the 2010 GSMA Mobile World Congress, together with Qualcomm, the world’s first ultra-slim big-screen BMP 3G smartphone―ZTE Bingo. In addition, ZTE is showcasing its 5 Android smartphone models for the first time. With the availability of Linux, Windows Mobile and OMS-platform mobile phones, ZTE is one of the few mobile phone manufacturers to offer smartphones for a variety of mobile operating systems.

ZTE Bingo adopts Qualcomm’s Brew Mobile Platform™ (BMP), which is the Mobile Operation System that provides high-end functionality to mobile terminals. In addition to full support for Adobe Flash, the platform also provides such advanced terminal functions as touch screen, multimedia, window management, open platform scalability and extended support for local application development. The Brew Mobile Platform’s open operating system has attracted wide attention from software developers and the global communication industry since its industry launch.

Equipped with an accelerator, the slim and stylish ZTE Bingo supports an incredible HSDPA 7.2Mbps download speed to provide unobstructed mobile Internet surfing.

Telefónica and ZTE to Launch Movistar Handsets in Latin America

17 February 2010, Barcelona — Telefónica and ZTE announced that a full range of movistar branded handsets will be launched in 12 Latin American countries during 2010, starting in Q2. Telefónica and ZTE signed an agreement for the development of a complete range of mobile devices. ZTE will manufacture movistar branded handsets exclusively available for Telefónica in Latin America.

Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications operators in Latin America. The customised ZTE handsets will be available throughout the year in the following markets: Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua.

ZTE is the world’s sixth largest mobile phone manufacturer and the world’s second largest supplier of data cards, according to shipment volumes. By the end of 2009, ZTE has cooperated with eight of the world’s top 10 operators in the handsets space. With this partnership, ZTE will expand its business in the Latin America market.

ZTE Debuts 160Gbps Packet Gateway Product

Max capacity product meets growing needs of mobile market

18 February 2010, Barcelona ― ZTE announced the debut of its new generation packet gateway product with the world’s largest capacity of 160Gbps. The ZXUN xGW is designed to provide the highest capacity, and the highest intelligence green solution for operators.

With the increasing development of mobile subscriber access rates, mobile data services, and operator requirements for precise control of services, abilities like packet processing and service based policy control for mobile core network products have become key to preventing bottlenecks. The ZXUN xGW provides maximum packet service processing ability of 160Gbps for single-cabinet, and is enhanced with mobile broadband access for EV-DO, WiMAX, HSPA (+) and LTE, as well as a hardware-based QoS guarantee for service over mobile network. The ZXUN xGW is also capable of expanding to WiFi and xDSL/xPON fixed broadband access.

ZTE Chosen as Commercial LTE Trial Vendor by Pannon

11 February 2010, Shenzhen, China ― ZTE has been selected by Pannon, part of the Telenor Group, as their LTE live network trial vendor.

Under this agreement ZTE will provide an end-to-end solution, including radio and core infrastructure as well as end user terminals. The trial agreement will allow Pannon to test peak rate. “LTE will enable mobile users to experience high-speed mobile broadband and exciting new services. With this commercial trial, ZTE aims to demonstrate the superior performance of our LTE solutions to Pannon and the Telenor Group,” said Kenneth Fredriksen, GM for ZTE’s Telenor Global Business Unit.

ZTE Leading in LTE Innovation; 1700 Patents for LTE/SAE Filed

ZTE’s total patent applications top 6,000 in 2009

12 February 2010, Shenzhen, China ― ZTE announced that by late 2009 it had applied for more than 1,700 LTE/SAE patents. ZTE is focused on advancing the LTE market with strong innovation that will benefit both consumers and operators with 4G experience and functionality.

ZTE has recently increased its strategic funding in LTE research and development. While stepping up its investments in standards and patent research, the company has also strengthened its LTE commercial and experimental network building. ZTE has begun cooperation and tests with a dozen of world-class operators in Western Europe, North America, Asia/Pacific and the Middle East, including Telstra’s CSL, Telefonica, SingTel, Telenor, Commnet and China Mobile.

ZTE is poised to become one of the leading owners of basic patents of the LTE/SAE Standard. Statistics show that ZTE now has over 25,000 patent applications. In 2009, it applied for over 6,000 patents.

ZTE to Supply Bearer Network Solution to Finnet Group

18 February 2010, Shenzhen, China ― ZTE announced an agreement with Westlink, part of the Finish telecommunications group Finnet, to supply a unified multi-service metro bearer solution.

ZTE’s IPTN bearer network solution will enable Westlink to offer traditional voice services and interconnection over Finnet’s All-IP networks.

The network will be based on ZTE’s ZXCTN 6100 PTN solution, which consolidates Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) and Metro Ethernet transport into a multi-service solution, enabling the unified transport of traditional TDM and Ethernet services, as well as replacing the existing SDH network.

ZTE to Build SDR Network for Portugal’s Optimus

Network will replace current 2G/3G infrastructure and provide a smooth evolution path to LTE

24 February 2010, Shenzhen, China ― ZTE announced that Optimus will be deploying its SDR multi-mode solution, enabling the operator to upgrade its GSM/UMTS network in Portugal and providing a smooth evolution path to LTE. ZTE’s SDR network will include SDR RAN, Network Management System and Operation Systems and Software (NMS/OSS), enabling Optimus to optimize current 2G/3G services and smoothly upgrade to LTE. The network roll-out will cover 4 regions in central Portugal.

This is the first contract win for ZTE’s SDR technology in Western Europe and follows a series of key contract wins in the region. ZTE currently has wireless network agreements with seven of the top 10 European operators. This includes GSM/UMTS networks for TeliaSonera, Telenor, and KPN as well as LTE trials with Telefonica. ZTE is conducting LTE trials with more than 10 operators, including Singapore Telecom, China Mobile and CSL.