"ZTE
has already invested a lot on 5G in terms of product designs. By 2015,
we should have the first prototype of 5G network equipment to ensure
that we are among the first vendors to launch the fifth generation
network commercially in the international market," Xu added.
Though
he did not disclose the investment details, Xu said most of the R&D
work is being done out of ZTE's facilities across China.
"We
have pressed some 1,000 top engineers to drive the 5G project," Xu said
adding that the company will invest in next-generation technologies
like 5G to enhance competitiveness and intellectual property
capabilities to stay ahead in the ever-changing technology landscape and
market environment.
Xu is of the view that 5G would be a mix of multiple technologies with strong learnings from 4G.
"ZTE's engineers will initially use the 4G platform to create 5G network devices," Xu said.
ZTE
owns over 800 essential patents on 4G-LTE standardisation, which is 13
percent of the total 4G-LTE patents across for the global industry.
According
to an IHS research paper on global LTE market, ZTE was one of the top
three LTE infrastructure vendors with 17.9 percent market share in 2013.
It was also the fastest growing 4G-LTE vendor.
ZTE expects
to double its global revenues from 4G-LTE infrastructure deployments
this year to USD 1.6 billion from USD 800 million last year. It gained
the largest share of China Mobile's 4G-LTE Phase I project in 2013 with a
26 percent share.
Globally, 4G technology allows speeds upwards
of 100 MB per second up to as much as 2 GB per second. At this speed, a
Bollywood movie of 650 to 750 MB size can be downloaded in seconds. The
next generation of services (5G) would allow even faster downloads and
Internet browsing.
4G is yet to take off on a large scale globally.
In
India, Airtel is the only player offering 4G services with speeds of up
to 10 MB per second on the iPhone 5S and 5C (according to its website).
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