The Chinese firms will cooperate on SDN, NFV, 5G and IoT
ZTE signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Telecom Beijing Research Institute to develop a number of technologies including software-defined networking, network functions virtualization, “4G” and “5G,” and the “Internet of Things.”
Under terms of the agreement, both parties will share resources to develop better network technologies designed to support China Telecom’s network construction and service reconstruction.
“As we enter the artificial intelligence era, operators are expected to provide a full range of network solutions,” said Zhang Chengliang, VP of the China Telecom Beijing Research Institute. “Through this partnership, we will be able to significantly advance SDN/NFV, 4G+/5G, cloud computing and big data technologies in the coming years. I believe the new technologies will become a reality through pilot deployments. I look forward to deepening our collaboration from a pure network aspect to ICT developments such as ZTE’s Yinchuan smart city project.”
China Telecom ended February with more than 200 million mobile subscribers, with LTE customers accounting for 69% of its mobile base. The telco has around 115 million wireline broadband subscribers.
XL Axiata sells 2,500 telecoms towers
In other APAC news, Indonesian telco XL Axiata agreed to sell 2,500 more telecom towers for 3.56 trillion rupiah ($250 million) as part of the firm’s asset management reorganization plan.
Under the terms of the deal, XL will sell the towers to local tower operator Professional Telekomunikasi Indonesia and rent most of them back for a 10-year period as the anchor tenant. In 2014, XL had sold 3,500 telecoms towers to PT Solusi Tunas Pratama.
The telco said part of the proceeds from the latest sale will be used to expand the firm’s LTE infrastructure. XL Axiata currently offers LTE services in Indonesia through spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands.
