China's ZTE said it has successfully demonstrated the ability for WiMAX and TD-LTE to co-exist on the same network.
The demo was conducted with Malaysia's WiMAX operator Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd, already a customer of ZTE. During the demonstration, ZTE said it used the same WiMAX system to upgrade it to a TD-LTE system in less than an hour without replacing any hardware. During this process, two terminals shared 20 MHz bandwidth with peak TD-LTE speeds reaching 130 Mbps.
The demonstration proved that ZTE's base-stations support a seamless upgrade from WiMAX to TD-LTE and that the company can provide a successful solution for the evolution for WiMAX and TD-LTE to co-exist.
"WiMAX has enabled P1 to become a 4G leader in Southeast Asia. Our next step is to become the first company leveraging on the power of WiMAX and LTE so that we can provide the world's best 4G technologies to our customers," said Michael Lai, CEO of Packet One Networks in a release. "The decision to deploy LTE will depend on other major operators in Asia. In other words, it will depend on the maturity of the eco-system when operators around the world, such as China and India, begin the commercial application of TD-LTE as well as also the availability of LTE devices."
Recently, the operator said it planned to launch a pilot commercial TD-LTE network by the end of the year.
For more:
- see this release from P1
- and this ZTE release
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