ZTE Corporation, in association with the Shaanxi arm of China Unicom, announced the commercialization of ZTE's Magic Pole Small Cell solution in Xi’an, China. The solution uses the street light pole as a carrier, integrating the wireless infrastructure and an advertising board in a compact structure that matches the surroundings and is easy to deploy.

As wireless data usage has skyrocketed in recent years, all major operators are confronted with the challenge of increasing the density of network coverage to meet the growing demand and improve user experience. Considering environmental protection, high entry fees and difficulties in site selection and acquisition, there are many restrictions to the deployment, operation and maintenance of macro base stations, as well as distributed base stations.

To address these challenges, ZTE developed an innovative solution: the Magic Pole. Magic Pole, featuring a clean and sleek appearance and wireless backhaul, avoids trenching and laying optical fiber. Integrated with a solar street lamp on the pole, Magic Pole provides intelligent control of street lamps and significantly reduces electricity cost. The pole is equipped with outdoor, small-pitch, full-color LED display screens that run commercial and public service advertisements, helping Shaanxi Unicom generate advertising revenue and providing information to residents.

These small cells will greatly improve network quality during the rush hour of Chang'an Communication Industrial Park in the high-tech development zone of the city.