ZTE successfully upgrades Airtel Uganda network to pave way for 4G

ZTE Corporation , a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, joined Airtel Uganda to celebrate the successful upgrade of its 3G network to ramp up performance and 4G deployment.

Airtel Uganda�s upgrade constitutes the first nation-wide UMTS900 commercial deployment in Uganda, immediately increases network performance by 20% and significantly lowers equipment power consumption and tower renting fees, resulting in lower overall CAPEX and OPEX.

The project will result in the deployment of modern UMTS 900 3G network with Airtel swapping out 674 sites. The deployment involved the adoption of ZTE’s innovative multi-mode ultra band and highly integrated SDR 2.0 solution which fully supports smooth evolution into LTE/LTE-A networks.

Compared with traditional UMTS2100 3G networks, the UMTS900 3G network will provide wider coverage and an improved indoor 3G experience, allowing more Ugandans to enjoy mobile broadband convenience in their daily lives.

ZTE’s professional project management and extensive wireless deployment experience guaranteed an on-time and complete project delivery.

“I have been impressed by the high quantity of sites delivered by ZTE and also the resulting improvement in customer experience on data which ZTE has enabled for the Airtel Uganda network,” said Mr. Tom Gutjahr, Managing Director, Airtel Uganda. Rajesh Agrawal, CTO of Airtel Uganda also recognized the impressive results of ZTE’s first collaboration with Airtel in Africa and hopes ZTE can continue to deliver further successful projects for the operator in the coming year.

ZTE as a major international GUL system equipment provider has commercially deployed GUL products and solutions with over 180 operators in more than 110 countries. To date, 240 LTE/EPC commercial contracts have been obtained with 80% of countries currently investing in 4G networks. In June 2014, ZTE first proposed its innovative Pre5G ideas and technology roadmaps and in March 2015, ZTE launched the world’s first Pre5G base station integrating the baseband unit (BBU) and remote radio unit (RRU). ZTE has also successfully completed pre-commercial field tests of Massive MIMO, D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO technologies.