(Yicai Global) Jan. 20 -- ZTE, China's second-largest telecoms equipment maker, and Ugandan carrier MTN are working together to launch the first fifth-generation networking trial on a standalone network in East Africa.

The pair held a demonstration event to celebrate the tests in Ugandan capital Kampala, Xinhua News Agency reported on Jan. 18. The trials will cover several scenarios including real-time speed measurement, bionic robots and online virtual reality.

Uganda's communications regulators are looking to build infrastructure to support the development of 5G in the country, said Godfrey Mutabazi, executive director of the Uganda Communications Commission. The move will make Uganda the first East African nation to adopt 5G, and just the third in Africa behind South Africa and Nigeria.

ZTE's share price has moved both ways so far this morning, sinking as much as 0.6 percent below but rising as much as 0.6 percent above yesterday's close. Its stock [SHE:000063] was at CNY38.94 (USD5.68) as of 10.05 a.m., up 0.26 percent.

"In the next two to three years, we will promote commercial use of 5G in Uganda on a large scale as to provide people with faster and more convenient services such as telemedicine, smart education and digital finance," added MTN's Chief Executive Wim Vanhelleputte. 5G has greatly improved network speeds and capacity and gives people faster connections without fiber optic cables, he continued, saying this makes building networks cheaper and more convenient.

ZTE fully supports MTN's plan to provide better, faster communication services and will strive to promote its application in vertical industries, said Yi Yahua, vice president of ZTE.

Editor: James Boynton