Islamabad, December 29, 2025: Zong, in collaboration with Huawei, has successfully completed Pakistan’s first field test of a full-duplex E-band microwave link, marking a major milestone in the country’s telecom backhaul capabilities.
The breakthrough addresses the rising demand for ultra-high-capacity backhaul driven by high-definition video streaming, augmented reality (AR), cloud services, and other low-latency applications. As conventional microwave backhaul solutions face spectrum limitations, the full-duplex E-band technology offers a transformative alternative.
The tested solution enables simultaneous transmission and reception on the same frequency through a high-isolation integrated antenna structure and advanced interference-cancellation algorithms. This effectively doubles spectrum efficiency compared to traditional microwave systems and delivers data transmission speeds of up to 50 Gbps per link.
Zong said the technology will play a key role in future network deployments, supporting faster, more reliable, and highly scalable connectivity across Pakistan, while ensuring a smoother and more stable user experience.
Commenting on the achievement, Mr. Mao Weiliang, Chief Technology Officer at Zong, said the successful field test reflects the company’s strong focus on innovation and digital transformation. He noted that ultra-high-capacity backhaul solutions are essential to building a resilient digital foundation for Pakistan, enabling next-generation services and supporting economic growth and digital inclusion.
The deployment leverages advanced 80 GHz E-band full-duplex ultra-broadband transmission technology, representing a landmark step in the evolution of Pakistan’s telecom infrastructure.
With this successful trial, Zong becomes the first operator in Pakistan to deploy full-duplex E-band microwave technology, further strengthening its position as a key driver of the country’s national digital transformation agenda.
