ZTE and Beeline Complete CIS's First Low-Band FMM Trial, Easing Low-Band Network Congestion

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• ZTE and Beeline Kazakhstan completed the CIS's first low-band FMM (Massive MIMO) trial in Shymkent, aimed at easing congestion in the low-band wide-coverage layer
• The trial used ZTE's self-developed low-band FMM to overcome low-band antenna-array and form-factor challenges, improving spectrum efficiency without adding spectrum or new sites
• Busy-hour low-band sector capacity reached 2-3x traditional macro cells and download speeds doubled, demonstrating a practical capacity-expansion approach for operators facing low-band congestion

Almaty, Kazakhstan, November 4, 2026 - ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, and Kazakhstan operator Beeline Kazakhstan today announced the successful completion of a low-band FMM (Massive MIMO) trial in Shymkent. Unlike regular-band FMM products, the trial focused on boosting capacity in the low-band wide-coverage layer. Results show that through a series of systematic innovations, ZTE's low-band FMM significantly eased low-band congestion without adding spectrum or new sites and simultaneously improved network capacity, user speeds, and service-carrying capability, offering Beeline Kazakhstan a valuable reference path toward better user experience.

Low-band spectrum is the "foundation" of mobile networks: it travels far and penetrates buildings well. With low-band spectrum, a single base station can cover a large area, and notably improve user experience indoors and in weak-coverage areas. However, low-band spectrum resources are naturally scarce and bandwidth-limited - like a road with only a few lanes, it congests quickly as traffic grows. Meanwhile, due to the physical wavelength of low-band spectrum, it is more difficult to adopt a massive antenna array in low-band products. As a sustained innovation following ZTE and Beeline's successful large-scale deployment of regular-band FMM, the low-band FMM deployed in this trial is ZTE's self-developed next-generation massive MIMO product. To tackle low-band congestion, it involves new materials, new architectures, and new algorithms to overcome challenges such as oversized antenna arrays, breaking through the form-factor ceiling of low-band products, making the most of the scarce and limited low-band resource, maximizing the spectrum efficiency on existing bands.

Trial results show that after existing traditional equipment was replaced with low-band FMM, busy-hour network capacity in low-band sectors increased to 2-3x that of traditional macro cells, and user download speeds doubled. The trial fully verified the engineering feasibility and performance advantages of adopting FDD Massive MIMO technology in low-band spectrum. It also challenged the traditional belief that low-band congestion can only be relieved by adding spectrum or sites, giving operators a new expansion path that avoids new spectrum or massive new sites acquisition.

Wei Wei, CEO of ZTE Kazakhstan, said: "Low-band spectrum is essential for wide-area and indoor coverage, but it is scarce and congests quickly as traffic grows. This trial shows that low-band FMM can unlock the value of existing low-band assets without adding spectrum or requiring a large number of new sites. It reflects ZTE's end-to-end innovation from product definition and core technology R&D to field deployment, and we look forward to working with Beeline Kazakhstan to scale the solution in more high-traffic areas."

Tungyshbek Battalkhanov, Chief Technical Officer, Beeline Kazakhstan, emphasized: "As traffic continues to grow, improving capacity in the low-band layer is critical to maintaining user experience. The trial with ZTE demonstrated a practical way to relieve low-band congestion and improve download speeds in Shymkent. We will continue to validate and deploy the solution in more high-traffic areas and build efficient, green, and intelligent networks for our customers."

This trial is ZTE's first practice in wide-coverage capacity expansion in the CIS region, providing a replicable model for similar network construction and capacity unlocking in the region. The Shymkent deployment also offers a concrete regional case study for operators addressing low-band capacity challenges. For Kazakhstan users, the technology can mean faster downloads, more responsive data services, and more consistent indoor and weak-coverage experience in high-traffic areas - while improving capacity on existing low-band assets without adding spectrum or extensive new sites. With this approach, Beeline continuously fulfills its mission of building a greener, more efficient and intelligent mobile network, keeps bringing better technology to Beeline users and contributes to Kazakhstan's digital development and the improvement of people's digital lives.