September 3, 2009 | CSL Limited (CSL), Hong Kong's leading mobile operator, and ZTE Corporation (ZTE), a major global provider of telecommunications technology and network solutions, today revealed details of their plans to expand CSL's  Next G network capabilities with the roll-out of UMTS in the 900 Mhz band and the building of a 4G or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Hong Kong.
 

At a jointly-held event, themed "Long Term Evolution – Imagine Life Now",  the companies presented the latest milestone in the Hong Kong telecommunications industry with a live demonstration of new LTE technology in action. LTE or 4G is the next evolution on from 3G. In a successful live demonstration of this technology, ZTE and CSL demonstrated the fastest mobile speeds in Hong Kong with peak download speeds in excess of 100 Mbps. This successful trial of LTE technology confirms CSL and ZTE's position at the forefront of the global mobile communications industry.
 
CSL used the event to not only showcase the new technology but also announced that along with its network partner ZTE, it has agreed to build an LTE commercial trial network in Hong Kong as well as the deployment of UMTS 900 which is the first instance of spectrum re-farming seen in Hong Kong. "Deployment of mobile services using UMTS in the 900 spectrum range is designed to increase outdoor coverage and in-building penetration rates; something that is vitally important in Hong Kong with its high density urban environment." said CSL's  Chief Technology Officer, Mr Christian Daigneault.
 
Mr Tarek Robbiati, Chief Executive Officer of CSL, said: "CSL's  unique network advantage with its Award-Winning Next G network in Hong Kong is unmatched. We have devoted major investment to build one of the world's most advanced networks in Next G with more than 2200 sites throughout Hong Kong all operating with HSPA+ which provides a peak throughput of 21Mbps. We are now expanding our coverage even further with UMTS 900, and we will continue to invest in 4G LTE through our strategic partnership with ZTE Corporation. We believe that these initiatives play a crucial role in consolidating our network leadership and enabling new wireless uses for consumers and enterprises alike."
 
"Today's event vividly demonstrates the innovation and value that we can and do bring to the people of Hong Kong and our customers. Our goal is to provide a true mobile broadband connectivity that is efficient, user-friendly, with seamless coverage to drive the highest standards of customer experience and business productivity. LTE offers us the ability to enhance what is already a world leading network and ensures that CSL is able to cope with the increased demand for bandwidth and coverage that customers will require in the years to come."
 
Mr Hou Weigui, Chairman of ZTE, said: "We are very proud to work closely with CSL again in the development of LTE technology in Hong Kong. With its unique geography, Hong Kong is one of the most challenging environments on earth to deploy a network, but this drives us to be as innovative and imaginative as possible. With our professional team of engineers and technical experts, we have made major strides forward in developing LTE infrastructure, which is bringing us closer to our goal of creating an optimum-performance network."
 
Mr David Thodey, Chief Executive Officer of Telstra, said: "We are confident about making this LTE investment in Hong Kong because of the remarkable growth of mobile data usage and the high penetration of mobile data transmission in this market.  With this groundbreaking technology, CSL is making the promise of LTE a reality for Hong Kong and creating there a world-class network that will establish the city as a telecommunications leader. Most importantly, in addition to providing customers with the fastest and most reliable network in Hong Kong, CSL will continue to think of new ways to use these increased data speeds to provide the best possible customer experience and applications."
 
LTE is a key technology in the transformation of voice-oriented telecom services into data-oriented communication services, which will greatly enhance efficiency by offering true mobility and reliable performance in data downloads and exchange, bandwidth-savvy applications such as Voice over IP (VoIP), HD video-streaming and conferencing as well as mobile TV. Consumers and business professionals demand the same experience and applications on wireless that they enjoy on a fixed wireline connection; anywhere, any content, stationary or mobile. LTE provides additional capacity for the long term to support an explosion in demand for connectivity from a new generation of consumer devices tailored to new mobile applications.