ZTE and Comsol expand South African broadband

ZTE Corporation and Comsol, a provider of fixed wireless access (FWA) infrastructure, are strengthening their strategic partnership to expand access to high-performance home broadband in South Africa through next-generation digital infrastructure

Mauritz Lewies, Comsol's Chief Technology Officer, and Francois Olivier, Comsol's Chief of Network Strategy, attended the 15th ZTE Global Summit & User Congress in Kuala Lumpur. Held under the theme “Architecting Infinity – From Connectivity to Digital Value”, the event brought together global industry leaders. This year's Summit was co-located with GSMA M360 ASEAN for the first time, broadening discussions on connectivity, digital infrastructure and emerging technologies.

During the Summit, Olivier joined a high-level roundtable to discuss digital inclusion and the contribution of communications infrastructure to local business development. Drawing on Comsol's experience in South Africa, he outlined how improved connectivity can help businesses grow, expand access to digital services and translate infrastructure investment into economic and social benefits.

Speaking at the event, Francois Olivier, chief of network strategy at Comsol, stated, “With nearly 30 years of experience delivering secure and reliable connectivity solutions to enterprise customers in South Africa, we are now extending that expertise into the consumer market through our wholesale 5G-Advanced network, enabling service providers to bring high-performance broadband to more South African households.”

Comsol's representatives also met with ZTE's management and technical teams to discuss the development of digital infrastructure. Topics included advances in 5G networks and equipment, network artificial intelligence (AI), AI-native connectivity, computing infrastructure, and the integration of connectivity and computing technologies. The discussions considered how these developments could be incorporated into enterprise networks to enable new digital applications, improve network capabilities and address the changing requirements of South African customers.

During a separate management meeting, Comsol reiterated its confidence in the partnership and the opportunities for further cooperation. The companies intend to combine ZTE's technology development expertise and global research and development capabilities with Comsol's local customer relationships, market knowledge and implementation experience to advance next-generation digital infrastructure deployment across South Africa.

ZTE and Comsol plan to continue expanding their collaboration, with a focus on applying advanced connectivity and digital technologies to practical business requirements. Their stated objective is to make reliable and accessible digital services available to more individuals and enterprises across South Africa.