ZTE and MTN have announced the successful commercial deployment of the world’s first 5-band Remote Radio Unit (RRU) in South Africa’s Western Cape Province. This pioneering achievement marks a major step forward in radio frequency technology and provides fresh momentum to Africa’s fast-evolving telecommunications sector.
South Africa, one of the continent’s most advanced telecom markets, serves over 60 million people. MTN already covers more than 97% of the population with LTE, demonstrating its commitment to reliable and inclusive connectivity. With demand for multi-band and multi-module services rising, operators often face challenges such as high power consumption, limited tower space, and heavy equipment loads. MTN’s new 5-band RRU directly tackles these issues.
Powered by ZTE’s in-house design chipset, the compact unit integrates all of MTN South Africa’s low and mid FDD bands into a single solution. This reduces the number of RF modules on towers by 50%, cuts equipment weight by 23%, and lowers wind resistance by 18%. These optimizations simplify deployment, ease construction, and free up valuable tower space for future expansion.
The innovation goes further with ZTE’s Super-N amplifier architecture, which leverages dense arrays of power amplifiers with on-demand activation. This architecture surpasses the efficiency limits of traditional designs, resulting in a 42.7% reduction in overall site power consumption and a 45.8% boost in energy efficiency (Wh/GB). The deployment not only supports South Africa’s low-carbon goals but also sets a global benchmark for sustainable telecommunications.
Both companies emphasized their shared vision of building smarter, greener networks. Rami Farah, Chief Technology Officer at MTN South Africa, highlighted how the solution addresses key challenges in coverage, capacity, cost, and efficiency—offering a scalable model for operators worldwide. Luca Shen, CEO of ZTE South Africa, noted that the partnership reinforces ZTE’s product leadership while accelerating digital transformation across Africa.
The deployment of this 5-band RRU marks a transformative moment for African telecoms, combining innovation, sustainability, and scalability to support economic growth and digital inclusion across the region.
