MTN South Africa and ZTE Corporation have commercially deployed the world’s first 5-band Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a breakthrough designed to cut costs, improve energy efficiency, and accelerate digital transformation across Africa’s telecoms sector.
The deployment took place in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, marking a global first in radio frequency technology.
The innovation comes as network operators face rising demand for multi-band services amid constraints on power, space, and tower capacity. By integrating all of MTN South Africa’s low- and mid-band frequencies into a single compact unit, the 5-band RRU reduces the number of RAN radio frequency modules on towers by 50%, cuts equipment weight by 23%, and lowers wind resistance by 18%. The solution is powered by ZTE’s in-house chipset.
According to MTN, the design will streamline site construction, reduce deployment complexity, and enable faster rollouts of next-generation connectivity. Energy efficiency gains are also significant. ZTE’s Super-N amplifier architecture allows for on-demand activation of power amplifiers, resulting in a 42.7% reduction in overall site power consumption and a 45.8% improvement in energy efficiency.
“MTN’s collaboration with ZTE on the world’s first 5-band RRU commercial deployment effectively addresses multiple challenges faced by operators in terms of coverage, capacity, cost, and energy efficiency,” said Rami Farah, Chief Technology Officer at MTN South Africa.
“It provides a new, replicable, highly integrated site solution for Africa and even the global market, accelerating the evolution of telecommunication networks towards higher efficiency and lower carbon emissions, continuously injecting core momentum into Africa’s digital economy and promoting African telecommunication technologies to a higher level.”
Luca Shen, Chief Executive Officer of ZTE South Africa, said: “ZTE has always regarded product leadership as its core competitiveness and is committed to delivering cutting-edge solutions. The in-depth collaboration with MTN not only achieves mutual benefits and win-win outcomes for both parties but also accelerates the rapid upgrade of South Africa’s telecommunication network, setting a benchmark for digital transformation across the African continent.”
The deployment underscores MTN’s extensive reach in South Africa, where it provides more than 97% LTE coverage to a population of over 60 million people. Both MTN and ZTE emphasized their shared goal of advancing Africa’s telecoms infrastructure while supporting environmental sustainability.
Guided by the vision of “protecting nature through technology and driving the future through innovation,” the companies said they will continue efforts to reduce emissions, improve efficiency, and bridge the digital divide.
