ZTE and China Mobile Research Institute Win the 2026 Leading Lights Award for "Outstanding Use Case: 5G/6G Innovation" with GigaMIMO

• GigaMIMO reshapes cellular boundaries by unlocking spatial domain potential, delivering 6G-level capacity and experience on live 5G-A networks
• As a bridge technology, GigaMIMO sets a benchmark for the smooth evolution from 5G-A to 6G with proven field deployment

2026 Leading Lights Award for Outstanding Use Case 5G / 6G Innovation with GigaMIMO

Shenzhen, China, September 30, 2026 – ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, together with the China Mobile Research Institute, has won the 2026 Leading Lights Award for "Outstanding Use Case: 5G/6G Innovation" for the GigaMIMO solution and its field practices. The award recognizes 5G and pre6G network projects that deliver quantifiable value on live networks. The award marks that the jointly developed GigaMIMO solution has received international authoritative recognition, setting a benchmark for the smooth evolution from 5G-A to 6G with proven implementability.

Redefining Cellular Boundaries by Unlocking Spatial Domain Potential

Faced with ever-growing demand for mobile communication capacity, emerging services such as immersive XR, connected vehicles, and embodied intelligence impose higher requirements on network speed, stability, and reliability. To address this, ZTE and the China Mobile Research Institute jointly developed the GigaMIMO solution, extending the evolution path of Massive MIMO. GigaMIMO enables precise, multi-dimensional signal reconstruction and fully unlocks the potential of spatial domain resources. Built on ultra-large antenna arrays and deep multi-site distributed collaboration, it simultaneously delivers rapid capacity growth and consistent experience across all scenarios — redefining the boundaries of cellular networks.

A "bridge technology" Connecting 5G-A and 6G

The award citation captured the innovation vividly: "Operators normally buy capacity with spectrum or with sites. GigaMIMO buys it with space — synchronizing overlapping cells so they behave as one coordinated antenna array." One judge described it as "a bridge technology; it can be deployed during 5G-A but continue to live on well into the 6G era".

GigaMIMO can be deployed on existing 5G and 5G-A commercial networks, where deep multi-site collaboration lifts network capacity and user experience; and it supports smooth evolution toward 6G, continuously unlocking technical value — unifying live-network value realization with next-generation technology preparation.

Field Validation Delivers Measurable Results across Two Core Capabilities

GigaMIMO integrates two core technologies:

· Collaborative MIMO targets overlapping cell areas, forming a virtual ultra-large antenna array through intelligent multi-site coordination. It converts conventional inter-cell interference into usable capacity and remedies the insufficient user experience at cell edges. Field trial results based on the commercial 5G-A network demonstrate that the average throughput in overlapping coverage areas increases by 25%, and user-experienced data rate rises by 2 to 6 times.

· Centralized MIMO deploys an ultra-large antenna array at a single site, achieving a tenfold increase in both cell capacity and user data rate, and supporting ultra-high rates and massive connectivity in higher frequency bands and wider bandwidths. End-to-end test results show a single-user peak rate exceeding 17 Gbps in the U6G band.

About the Leading Lights Awards

The Leading Lights Awards is Light Reading's annual program recognizing innovation and achievement in the global communications industry since 2004. The awards are among the most prestigious honors in the telecommunications industry, highlighting top companies, products, teams, and executives for their accomplishments in technologies, services, strategies, and innovations.

This award fully acknowledges the sustained innovation of ZTE and the China Mobile Research Institute in wireless communications. Looking ahead, both parties will continue to deepen collaborative innovation, further refine network capabilities, empower industrial digital transformation, and create greater value for the industry and for users.