ZTE’s AIR RAN Solution Wins Global Connectivity Award 2026, and the Company Says 170,000 Sites Are Already Running It

ZTE received the “Best Hardware Innovation” award at the Global Connectivity Award 2026 for its AIR RAN solution, which the company says has been deployed across more than 170,000 sites worldwide. The award recognises the plug-in-intelligence approach that ZTE has taken to adding AI capabilities to existing radio access network infrastructure without requiring full hardware replacement.

ZTE says AIR RAN has delivered up to 20 percent increase in ARPU driven by differentiated experience, a 20 percent zero-touch ticket resolution rate in operations and maintenance, up to 20 percent increase in spectrum utilisation, and 15 percent energy savings through AI-driven strategies. ZTE reported these figures in its award announcement on October 28, 2026.

The technology works by adding AI processing to existing base station hardware instead of replacing it. ZTE’s argument is that operators can unlock immediate AI monetisation by breathing new life into legacy infrastructure, avoiding what the company calls prohibitive hardware overspending. The approach contrasts with Nokia’s strategy of building AI-RAN on NVIDIA accelerated computing, which requires new baseband hardware.

Ericsson’s position is different again. Per Narvinger, Ericsson’s chief executive, has defended custom ASIC-based AI RAN, citing 10 percent spectrum-efficiency gains from AI-native link adaptation across more than 60,000 base stations with three operators. Ericsson keeps GPU options open but argues that custom silicon delivers functionality faster today. The three vendors are now competing on architecture philosophy as much as on performance metrics.

The broader market context comes from GSMA. Mobile Economy reports track carrier capital expenditure against revenue growth, and the gap between the two has widened steadily since 2020. Operators face a structural challenge: data demand grows at 30 to 40 percent per year while revenue per gigabyte falls. Technologies that extract more performance from existing infrastructure address that gap directly.

ZTE’s AIR RAN award comes at a time when the company is pivoting toward AI computing. ZTE’s nine-month 2026 revenue reached RMB 116.84 billion, up 16.2 percent year-on-year, with computing revenue share rising to 38 percent. The AIR RAN deployment numbers and the computing revenue growth are two sides of the same strategy: using AI to extract value from both network and compute infrastructure.

ZTE has not disclosed which operators account for the 170,000 deployed sites or whether the ARPU and energy savings figures have been independently verified.

Supplier’s note: We hold ZTE radio units and baseband units from the 2025 production batch in Shenzhen stock, roughly 50 units across six SKUs, with lead time of five to seven working days on fresh orders. Cross-reference stock includes compatible power amplifiers, filters and mounting brackets from third-party vendors that fit the same tower configuration. Customers typically order in lots of two to four units for site upgrades, and we see repeat orders from the same system integrators every five to seven weeks. Pricing holds for 30 days from quotation. We also stock spare fans, power supplies and cable assemblies for the same chassis families, and can arrange on-site installation support through our partner network in Southeast Asia and the Middle East region.