November 22, 2017, Shenzhen, China -- ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, today announced that it has provided its experimental system, specifically the 5^th Generation mobile communication system (5G) base stations and core network equipment, for the 4.5GHz band substantiative experiment of SoftBank, which obtained its experimental license on 20 November, 2017.

Both sides will start the substantiative experiment at experimental sites constructed at Shiba-Daimon area in Tokyo.

ZTE has established close relationships by cooperating with SoftBank to execute substantiative experiment of Massive MIMO, which is one of the important elemental technologies adopted for 5G starting 2015, and by supplying Massive MIMO equipment in SoftBank’s commercial networks since 2016.

SoftBank aims to use the substantiative experiment for its 5G commercial services which are due to start around 2020, and will execute further experiments for 5G introductions based on the know-how accumulated by both parties.

SoftBank has implemented new radio interface to be adopted for 5G and Massive MIMO, and has scheduled experiments with multiple terminals in densely built buildings such as central Tokyo. Meanwhile, SoftBank has planned experiments for actual use cases like enhanced mobile broadband communication and mobility verifications etc.

ZTE, a pioneer of 5G technologies, has driven 5G technology verifications and experiments targeting for commercial deployments together with global operators like SoftBank. Underpinned by its leadership in 5G technologies, the company is committed to helping carriers deploy the latest network innovations and smoothly evolve from 4.5G networks, supporting the ongoing digital transformation of operators globally.