In this study, the authors analyse the impact of channel estimation error (CEE), feedback delay (FD), and co-channel interference (CCI) on the performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems deploying maximum ratio transmission (MRT). In particular, the authors derive closed-form expressions for the ergodic capacity and the symbol error rate (SER) as well as the outage probability (OP). In addition, to reveal the effect of CEE, FD and CCI on the MIMO-MRT system, the authors adopt more simplified and tractable formulas in terms of asymptotic expressions for the ergodic capacity, SER and OP. The analysis shows that the system performance is degraded considerably under imperfect transmission conditions such as CEE, FD and CCI. However, the authors can compensate part of this degradation by deploying MRT transmission with a large number of antennas at the transmitter and receiver. Finally, the selected examples exhibit consistency between analytical results and Monte Carlo simulations.