China Telecom launches 5G SA Massive MIMO 1+X SSB

The Hunan branch of China Telecom has launched China’s first commercial 5G SA Massive MIMO 1+X SSB (Synchronization Signal and PBCH block) site with three-dimensional coverage on 3.5 GHz using equipment from ZTE.

ZTE claims that the 5G 1+X SSB site offers a better coverage compared with the traditional seven-beam sites, and that its solution can increase the data rate in the weak coverage areas by 49.5%. On the 29th floor with very weak signal, the downlink rate has stably reached over 100Mbps after the new site has been set up. In addition, the power consumption has been reduced by 5% to 10% during the low traffic periods, hence a lower TCO.