Belgium Telenet and ZTE break European outfield pre5G speed record

13 December 2016, Belgium –ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet and Belgium Telenet, completed an outfield Pre5G test, making itself the first operator in Europe to have achieved 1.3Gbps download speed in real network condition. That's four times faster than 4G's maximum download speed, enabling a successful download 13.3GB HD movie in no more than 90 seconds during the test.

As the sole network vendor of Telenet, ZTE has established and is strengthening a long-term strategic partnership with Telenet. This Pre5G demonstration is one of the first steps Telenet is taking towards future 5G network evolution.

Consumers' telecom behavior has been evolving radically, demands for mobile data will be 4 times greater in 2020 than now according to the network traffic forecast by Ovum. With the cooperation of ZTE, in 2017, Telenet will finish the Pre5G deployment in urban areas. Besides, Telenet will also deploy Pre5G at a number of large-scale events, such as Tomorrowland in 2017, ensuring the ultimate user experiences.

"We're very excited about the results of this test, because the new speed record is a milestone on the way to 5G. The Pre5G networks are faster and provide higher capacity, improving mobile users' broadband experience, especially in areas with high cell-phone traffic," says Micha Berger, Telenet's CTO.

“The 1.3Gbps demo opens a new era of Telenet & ZTE's partnership in advanced wireless technology innovation. ZTE is willing to support Telenet to bring this cutting edge technology to end user and improve user experience, which will enhance Telenet's success in Belgium", says Patric Bin, ZTE Benelux’s CEO.

Telenet has been committed to building the best and fastest mobile network in Belgium. This Pre5G demonstration is based on four commercial spectrum bands, and combined with Pre5G key technologies including massive carrier aggregation, 44 MIMO and 256QAM. After overcoming outdoor negative effects such as wireless signal interference and signal attenuation, the download speed in the demonstration still achieved 1.3Gbps. To make full preparation for the test, ZTE has been cooperating with Telenet since mid November 2016, starting from the basic configuration of 2 carriers and 22 MIMO and then evolving to multiple carriers, 4*4 MIMO and 256QAM technology combinations. The test has proved the gain of Pre5G key technologies step by step, ensuring Telenet smooth network evolution in 2017.