ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, announced today its partnership with Wind Tre and Open Fiber, the largest mobile operator in Italy and Italy’s wholesale fiber network operator respectively, to build Europe's first 5G pre-commercial network in the 3.6-3.8GHz band.
In early 2017, the Italian Government announced its intent to take the lead in rolling out the EU 5G Action Plan, in a move to encourage Italy's top operators to build 5G networks to promote Italy’s 5G commercialization, with five pilot cities having been selected. The trials are important milestones in the 5G Action Plan. Wind Tre and Open Fiber will partner with ZTE in conducting 5G pre-commercial trials in the Italian provinces of L'Aquila and Prato.
ZTE plans to provide the most advanced 5G end-to-end network solution for the pre-commercial field test and partner with Wind Tre, Open Fiber, local universities, and enterprises to comprehensively test and verify 5G technical performance, network architecture, 4G/5G network integration and future 5G use cases, including AR/VR, smart city, public safety, 5G healthcare and Industry 4.0.
Bai Yanmin, general manager of ZTE's TDD and 5G products, said, "We are honored to partner with Wind Tre and Open Fiber in building Europe's first 5G pre-commercial network. Meanwhile, we also plan to build a ZTE 5G Innovation and Research Center in L'Aquila. As a leading global provider of telecom solutions, ZTE is committed to becoming a global 5G pioneer, with 5G as its core strategy. We believe that this cooperation will help Italy build a world-class 5G pre-commercial network, promote the commercialization of 5G in other countries and regions and accelerate the construction of a 5G industry chain."
To date, ZTE has signed 5G strategic partnerships with China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, SoftBank, Telefonica, Belgium's Telenet and South Korea's KT, as well as engaged in technical and industrial collaborations with several other carriers. Looking ahead, ZTE plans to continue working with its partners in conducting 5G tests and trials and in promoting the commercialization of 5G worldwide, in a move to offer the full gamut of the soon-to-be-available 5G experience.
