ZTE, Hutchison Drei Austria enable continuous 5G network in Linz

ZTE Corporation and the operator Hutchison Drei Austria have partnered to develop and deploy Austria’s first operational 5G network, available to selected business clients in Linz.

As part of 5G launch, selected business clients of Hutchison Drei Austria have received state-of-the-art ZTE E2E 5G solutions, in order to exclusively test-drive the ultra-fast internet of the future. For the showcase in Linz, ZTE and Hutchison Drei Austria have activated a total of 20 5G sites, creating the first ever continuous 5G coverage throughout an Austrian city. Previous 5G tests in Austria have been conducted using “inhouse”-networks, consisting of one 5G site only.

ZTE and Hutchison Drei Austria are also the first in Austria to implement the latest industrial 5G network standard, facilitating maximum security and connectivity. Hutchinson Drei Austria is aiming for full 5G coverage of the city and other regions throughout Austria. In order to advance the 5G network implementation, Hutchison Drei Austria’s CEO Jan Trionow calls for participation: “We would like to invite companies, institutions and municipalities throughout Austria to contact us with project ideas.”

Due to its stability, high performance and extremely low latency 5G is particularly interesting for large-scale business applications. The technology can further enable whole new fields of businesses and services from virtual reality and self-driving cars to robotic surgery. Moreover, 5G positively impacts the associated network eco-system such as cloud-services.

5G early deployments like the one in Linz are crucial to evaluate the performance of the 5G network and technology in order to guarantee that best-in-class service and utmost speed are achieved once 5G is deployed nationwide.

ZTE has earned a reputation as a pioneer in the field of 5G. The company did not only provide the infrastructure technology for Austria’s first continuous 5G coverage in Linz, but has recently launched the first 5G smartphone on the domestic market with its new flagship series ZTE Axon 10 Pro.

The state-of-the-art smartphone with attractive price-performance ratio is available in an LTE and 5G version - which was demonstrated during the 5G event. “We are very proud that, together with our partner Hutchison Drei Austria, we are first to offer 5G devices as the ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G, ZTE 5G Indoor Router and now as well to be the first providing continuous 5G coverage in Linz – amazing how ZTE started as a challenger in Austria 2010 and now we are the pioneer in next generation mobile networks” says ZTE Austria CEO, Christian Woschitz.

Xiao Ming, President of ZTE Overseas adds: “5G is the future of wireless technology designed to meet the advancing and increasingly complex sets of performance requirements. It is about 100 times faster than 4G. It offers ultra-low latency, and will catalyze mobility, industrial networking, remote healthcare, virtual reality, and ultra-high-definition video, and enhance our customers’ digital experience and help them enjoy the Internet in new and exciting ways as well.”

The launch of the 5G business was kicked-off with an exclusive media event on June 19th, 2019, hosted by Hutchison Drei Austria. Various 5G use cases, ranging from remote truck driving to real-time gaming, were demonstrated in front of members of the press, as well as Upper Austria’s governor Thomas Stelzer and the mayor of Linz Klaus Lugner. During the event, press members could also stroll around the city center and test the network standard throughout the designated areas.

"Other providers are just '5G ready' or have upgraded individual transmission masts across Austria. Today we are launching the first true contiguous 5G network worthy of the name. While the others only talk about the future, in Linz it is already a reality today. The race for the 5G leadership in Austria is officially opened, "said Jan Trionow, CEO of Drei, at the press conference.