At the recent ZTE Technology Day 2025, held at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, Italy, Marc Einstein, Research Director at Counterpoint, held an in-depth discussion with Tang Xue, Vice President at ZTE for Wireless Architecture and Computing. Xue gave us an update on the progress ZTE has made with its customers on their journey towards telco network automation powered by agentic AI.
The Interview
Key announcements and takeaways from the discussion:
• ZTE's comprehensive AI solution covers AI RAN, AI Core and AIRnet.
• It has already deployed AI RAN at 150,000 sites for China Mobile.
• AI solutions boost spectrum efficiency, power efficiency and user experience.
Analyst Takeaways
Agentic AI achievements:
• ZTE is China Mobile's top partner for autonomous networks, working on over 20 scenarios.
• It has commercially launched three agentic AI types – network optimization, provisioning and troubleshooting.
• 10% of network optimisation workload is now automated end-to-end.
• Creating a true “self-healing network” is now a reality, not just a concept.
Revenue generation strategies:
• Shifting from “traffic seller” to “experience guarantor” model
• Two main approaches – retaining high-value users (who contribute 80% of revenue) and creating end-to-end packages
• AI Core identifies premium users and dynamically upgrades their service quality.
• Networks send personalised messages to VIP users showing they are under “special care”.
• AI enables real-time, location-based package offers (concerts, high-speed trains, stadiums).
