Road to 5G: Sri Lanka Telecom, ZTE Complete Key LTE-A Pro Test

ZTE Corporation is partnering with Sri Lanka Telecom, the largest wireless broadband operator in Sri Lanka, to complete a PoC verification test for LTE-A Pro, in Colombo.

In this test, ZTE uses its eWBB solution that incorporates a range of key technologies like Massive MIMO, CA, uplink and downlink high-order modulation, and 4x4 MIMO. ZTE topped comprehensive rankings of the test results, showing its strength in 4G. The test is another push of ZTE into the TD-LTE field.

Impressive LTE-A Pro Test

SLT started to build TD-LTE networks in 2014, which were soon put into commercial use, and have been well received by its subscribers. With the increasing user base, SLT is very eager to increase its network capacity and quality. That explains why it picked the LTE-A Pro technology and teamed up with ZTE to deploy the eWBB solution in its existing networks.

The ZTE eWBB solution can increase the network capacity and performance dramatically, with a wide range of key technologies like 256QAM, 4x4 MIMO, CA, MU-MIMO, and Pre5G Massive MIMO.

This LTE-A Pro test, which was carried out in a network environment with real-world scenarios, showed that the eWBB solution greatly lowered network transport requirements, making it possible to enhance 4G inter-cell performance. In a real commercial network, the promising Massive MIMO product of ZTE offers a peak rate of 720 Mbps per carrier, six times faster than a traditional TD-LTE carrier.

In this round of tests, ZTE was the only vendor that offered a peak throughput of over 1 Gbps, using 4CC, 256QAM, and 4x4 MIMO.

Connecting the Unconnected

Sri Lanka has a population of 20 million. However, the level of urbanization is low, and 80% of its population live in the countryside. Low density leads to high costs in fixed broadband coverage.

The ZTE eWBB solution employs a wireless approach that goes beyond geographical restrictions, and makes networks easy to plan and fast to build, bringing broadband networks to those unconnected. Compared with ADSL and FTTx, the eWBB solution offers a higher transmission rate and a more cost-effective tariff.

The eWBB deployment is a landmark in the broadband construction history of Sri Lanka, and also a milestone in the government's National Broadband Policy. Thanks to the eWBB solution, tens of thousands of people now have access to wireless broadband services and enjoy the benefits of mobile Internet. In the future, ZTE will partner with SLT to bring broadband services to more households and boost the economy of Sri Lanka.