ZTE Corporation, provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, today announced that it has completed the industry’s first interoperability test (IOT) between TD-LTE terminals and GSM, UMTS, and CDMA EV-DO networks.

This is the first IOT between a multi-mode TD-LTE terminal and non TD-LTE networks. The success of the test is significant for the entire TD-LTE ecosystem, proving that TD-LTE devices can work seamlessly with existing GSM, UMTS and CDMA EV-DO networks as well as with new LTE FDD and TD-LTE networks. It is expected to promote the convergence of TD-LTE and existing networks, and speed up TD-LTE network deployments.

“The test shows that devices for TD-LTE networks are close to market availability, and that ZTE’s extensive TD-LTE expertise ensures that our existing 2G and 3G networks are able to handle traffic from TD devices,” said Wang Shouchen, general manager of ZTE TD products.

Most operators have mature 2G and 3G networks, with huge numbers of subscribers. TD-LTE networks offer operators significant opportunities in terms of using available and often low cost spectrum, but they need to work concurrently and seamlessly with existing networks and with the next generation of multi-mode devices, said Shouchen.

Multi-mode terminals will allow the leading LTE operators to provide global roaming with existing 2G and 3G networks, thus reducing the market entry barriers for LTE development. TD-LTE multi-mode terminals have therefore been one of the core capabilities operators have been concerned about, and are an important indication of TD-LTE ecosystem maturity.

As of April 2011, ZTE had deployed TD-LTE trials and commercial networks for 25 leading global operators in 15 countries covering Europe, India, CIS, Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia, and has been actively carrying out interoperability testing with other terminal vendors.