MTN And ZTE Deploy South Africa’s First 5-Band RRU

MTN South Africa, a telecom operator serving nearly all of the country’s mobile users, has partnered with ZTE Corporation an ICT equipment provider headquartered in Shenzhen, China to deploy what they call the world’s first commercial five-band Remote Radio Unit (RRU) in the Western Cape. This development aims to simplify mobile infrastructure by combining several frequency bands into a single module, addressing challenges like tower congestion, high energy usage, and operational inefficiency.

By modern telecom benchmarks, MTN is exceptionally pervasive. As of early 2023, the operator’s 4G/Long Term Evolution (LTE) network reached 97 percent of the South African population, with plans to expand further. Additionally, some regions such as  Free State, and Northern Cape now experience 98 percent or higher network availability, even under load-shedding stress. These figures highlight a network already carrying immense burden and underscore the value in reducing infrastructure strain through innovations like consolidated RRUs.

The new RRU uses ZTE’s Super-N amplifier design, which combines several low- and mid-frequency bands into one device. MTN reports this reduces the number of radio modules by 50 percent, cuts equipment weight by 23 percent, and lessens wind resistance by 18 percent, easing installation complexities and structural demands. Additional efficiency comes from energy gains: this RRU uses 42.7 percent less power per site and delivers 45.8 percent higher energy efficiency (watt-hours per gigabyte) compared to traditional setups.

Rami Farah, CTO of MTN South Africa, emphasized the multifaceted gains, “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. 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”

Building on this, Luca Shen, Chief Executive Officer of ZTE South Africa, framed the achievement as part of a longer-term vision for regional connectivity, “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.”

In a market where 4G population coverage exceeds 97 percent and rural network availability hovers near 99 percent, physical tower constraints, energy inefficiencies, and rising demand present ongoing headaches. Innovations like the five-band RRU offer practical relief.