Chinese equipment vendor, ZTE has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with KT Corporation on research and commercialization of 5G technology at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai conference. Under the MOU, ZTE and KT will launch 5G Test Bed construction in Seoul, and jointly develop, present, and design the future 5G network architecture based on the Test Bed. KT plans to launch commercial 5G networks in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.
ZTE claims that its Pre5G base station enhances spectral efficiency more than fourfold by using Massive MIMO technology. ZTE is also expecting to launch other significant Pre5G technology solutions, such as UDN and MUSA, in the future. ZTE added that its Pre5G uses some 5G technologies directly on 4G networks, and provides users with 5G-like experience on 4G terminals without changing the air interface standard.
Xu Huijun, Senior Vice President of ZTE
ZTE is committed to help operators transition successfully to 5G technology, and the agreement with a strong partner such as KT will strengthen our core capabilities. ZTE has a wealth of experience in technology development and network evolution. We believe that the Pre5G technology can better meet practical requirements for seamless development of networks.