ZTE brings world's first commercial EV-DO Rev.B Network

NEW DELHI,INDIA: ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, today announced that it has successfully constructed and launched the world’s first commercial EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) Rev.B network.

Together with Smart Telecom, one of Indonesia’s CDMA telecommunication service providers, and Qualcomm, the leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, the network has been launched in Bali, Indonesia recently. In this first phase, 48 CDMA base stations have been upgraded to EV-DO Rev.B commercial systems to provide an average download speed of 8.6Mbps to  a peak download speed of 9.3Mbps.

The commercial network will provide Smart Telecom customers high-quality voice and mobile data services. Through its highly innovative solutions, ZTE has provided Smart Telecom a leading edge in the telecommunication industry in Indonesia, especially among the CDMA operators. ZTE has also this month launched its EV-DO Rev.B data card AC2790 in Indonesia market. ZTE will continue to support Smart Telecom with technology innovations as well as sustainable development to reduce network construction, operation and maintenance costs and to provide local users with the highest quality, high speed communications services.

ZTE’s SDR (Software Defined Radio) platform-based EV-DO Rev.B System can smoothly evolve to LTE by simply adding LTE baseband board and upgrading software. Through software advancement, ZTE’s EV-DO Rev.A can evolve easily to an EV-DO Rev.B network. In July 2009, ZTE demonstrated an EV-DO Rev.B Dual-Mode System at EXPO COMM Wireless Japan 2009.

Smart Telecom, part of the Indonesia’s renowned consortium Sinar Mas, is one of the leading telecom operators in Indonesia market. Smart Telecom had previously utilized 3.1 Mbps EV-DO Rev.A technology. The 9.3 Mbps download rate of its new EV-DO Rev. B commercial network makes Smart Telecom the fastest 3G network in Indonesia.

“EV-DO Rev.B network is now commercially available, and only in the Bali Denpasar area,” said Mr. Sutikno Widjaja, President Director of Smart Telecom. “Within Q1 2010, all existing base stations in Bali will be upgraded to EV-DO Rev.B and by the end of 2010, Rev.B is expected to be available throughout all major cities in Indonesia. To date, Smart has 32 cities covered with its previous evolution, EV-DO Rev.A which provides the most reliable wireless broadband services at download speed of up to 3.1 Mbps.”

“It’s an honour for ZTE to cooperate with Smart Telecom to deploy the first EV-DO Rev.B technology in Indonesia, and the world,” said Mr. Cuiyi, President, Asia Pacific Region, ZTE Corporation. “I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Smart Telecom on becoming the world’s first operator providing commercial EV-DO Rev.B services to its customers. Largely attributable to Smart Telecom’s strong track record for technology development and deployment and its reputation for high levels of service, Indonesian people are now benefiting from experience the most advanced EV-DO data services in the world.”

“Together with Smart Telecom, we're glad to launch the world’s first commercial EV-DO Rev.B network in Indonesia. The network will offer unparalleled high-speed broadband data access services to Smart Telecom’s subscribers,” said Mr. Hou Zhengzhi, Managing Director, President of ZTE Mobile Telecom, when receiving the plaque of appreciation, under witness of officials from Economy Division of Communications and Information Department of Indonesia and Local Book of Record (MURI) of Indonesia.

ZTE has been leading the EV-DO Rev.B technology development. In February 2009, ZTE placed the world’s first EV-DO Rev.B VoIP call on its CDMA2000 system -- the first of its kind in the industry. In June 2009, ZTE joined with Morocco CDMA operator WANA and Qualcomm to launch the world’s first EV-DO Rev.B commercial trial.

ZTE continues to be a leader in CDMA technology innovation. It has ranked first in global CDMA equipment volume shipments for four consecutive years (2006 – 2009), with an accumulated 215,000 CDMA base stations shipped worldwide.