ASB also has won contracts to deploy NGN (next generation network) networks
from China Netcom, the country's No 2 fixed-line carrier, in Beijing, Tianjin and Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Dega expects ASB to grab an even
larger share of China's telecoms equipment market, after the Alcatel-Lucent
merger and the acquisition of the 3G (third generation) UMTS business of
Canada's Nortel Networks.
ASB will be the only telecoms
equipment maker to have all three standards for 3G telephony, which could put
the firm at an advantageous position in China's future 3G market.
The
three standards include the Europe-initiated WCDMA, known as UMTS, US-backed
CDMA 2000 and China's home-grown TD-SCDMA.
Alcatel previously controlled
a 17 per cent share of the global UMTS market, and Lucent is devoted to
developing CDMA 2000. The merger could complement both companies in their 3G
businesses, enabling the combined operations to inherit the two firms'
traditional advantages, Dega said.
Lucent's China operations formerly
focused on CDMA and PHS (personal handyphone system), a limited mobility
service.
The Alcatel-Lucent merger could expand the company's R&D
capabilities in China. After the merger, the new operations in China will have
10,000 employees with half working on R&D activities, as well as two
manufacturing sites in Shanghai and Qingdao.
Alcatel was one of the first
foreign companies committed to supporting TD-SCDMA. In 2004, ASB announced it
would partner with China's Datang Mobile to jointly develop TD-SCDMA
technology.
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