US telecom software and solution firm Rocket Software Inc will shift its strategic focus from the United States to Asia and make China one of its most important research bases and markets, said a company official yesterday in Beijing.

"The fast growth of China's telecom market is very fascinating, but what attracts us most is the huge talent pool here," said Johan Magnusson, chief operating officer and co-founder of the US software firm.

The company will boost the registered capital of its Chinese subsidiary from US$1 million to US$2 million and expand the Chinese team to 100 people this year from 50 at the end of 2003.

Rocket Software, one of the best data management software firms in the world according to US industrial magazine DM Review, will also establish a research and development centre and a service centre in Beijing and Shanghai respectively.

Magnusson said the two centres will cost Rocket Software several million US dollars, but declined to reveal the exact amount.

He believed that with the huge pool of high-quality talent in China, his company will see more new technologies and solutions designed by its Chinese subsidiaries.

Rocket Software, a major software supplier to leading information technology and communications firms like IBM and Nortel, will also bring more outsourcing orders to China to tap the local skills resources.

At the same time, the US firm will expand its presence in the operational and business support system solutions market, which help telecom operators manage their businesses efficiently.

It already won an order in November from China Telecom Corp, the biggest Chinese telecom operator, to help optimize the latter's nationwide multimedia broadband backbone network and manage different kinds of services on the network.

However, in spite of the enthusiasm from the US software firm, a columnist with the China Telecommunications Magazine, believed Rocket Software's entry into the Chinese market is a little late.

"The telecom service support solution market in China is already highly competitive now and many domestic companies like NASDAQ-listed AsiaInfo are quite strong, so there will be a lot of challenges for Rocket Software besides opportunities," he said.

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