ZTE and Ethio telecom Trial AI Network Tool, Report 40% Faster Peak-Hour Speeds

ZTE and Ethio telecom have deployed Ethiopia’s first pre-commercial AIR RAN system, using AI to squeeze more capacity out of the existing 4G network.

ZTE says the trial delivered an 11% increase in 4G capacity and a 40% gain in user throughput during peak hours compared with conventional network management. It did not say how many sites were involved or where.

How it works

AIR RAN runs on ZTE’s AIREngine computing engine and builds on FDD Massive MIMO antenna technology. AI-driven beam scheduling allocates radio resources dynamically as traffic shifts, extracting more capacity from existing infrastructure rather than relying solely on new equipment.

The radio access network is the part of a mobile network that connects users’ devices to the operator’s core.

Why it matters for Ethio telecom

With 4G data traffic growing quickly, the two companies have spent the past two years exploring AI for network efficiency. The deployment supports Ethio telecom’s Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028 strategy — its plan to become an AI-native digital company rather than a connectivity provider — and the national Digital Ethiopia 2030 agenda.