I hear good news and bad news out of China every day.
At one point they are preparing to shoot missiles at the USA because they want to repatriate Taiwan and the next moment they want to open up their market to world trade. Sheesh !
Here is some good news. Frankly, when this stock starts to get some volume momentum behind it I think it's going to kick some ass. I think Qinnet has a lot more value right now and potential than many people seem to think. Just because their is no volume doesn't mean anything at this point of time. Sure, the stock is closely held and the company needs to raise some serious capital in order to achieve their planned objectives. But look at the market they are in. Its big, real big. How does 300 million internet users in 5 years sound ?
Lucent is not stupid ! They are investing the backbone infrastructure requirements of China's internet. Why ? Cause they want to be there when this market opens up.
Qinnet is going to be there. I hear they are talking to China Unicom as well. Perhaps one day they will team together to deliver the internet solution China needs to compete in the world marketplace.
Watch this stock, but don't invest unless you are completely comfortable with investing in a company which is doing business in a foreign country. It's a significant risk with China. But I am taking on that risk but I view that China must join the WTO and in order to do that it must open up certain markets to foreign investment. The market they will allow first, in my opinion, is the development of their internet backbone infrastructure. This is why I've chosen to become a Qinnet shareholder.
--------------------------------------
Lucent Wins $100 Million In China Deals
10:50 Friday, March 3, 2000
By Matt Pottinger
BEIJING (Reuters) - Lucent Technologies Inc., the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, said Friday it had won contracts worth more than $100 million from several Chinese service providers.
The contracts reflect a rush by Chinese telecoms operators to roll out state-of-the-art networks ahead of foreign competition once Beijing enters the World Trade Organization, said Gerry Butters, chief strategist of Lucent.
Under an agreement reached with the United States last year, China has pledged to open the sector gradually to foreign competition once it gains WTO membership, expected this year.
``What we've seen since the WTO agreement is a rush for cyber technology in China,' Butters told Reuters in an interview. ``That's the best of current generation wireless, new communications software and broadband data network equipment.'
China's markets for wireless, optical fiber and data communications networks would ``grow by double digit rates and in some cases triple digit rates,' he said.
The Lucent deals are spread between all three of China's major operators -- demonstrating how domestic competition has heated up since the government began restructuring the sector last year.
TERMS OF DEALS
About 60 percent of the value of the contracts comes from China Unicom, the country's number two telecom provider.
They include an expansion of a GSM mobile phone system in the northeastern province of Liaoning, an expansion of optical networks and the introduction of advanced Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology to Unicom's national backbone network, Butters said.
ATM technology allows phone lines to carry sophisticated Internet services, including voice.
Most of the other contracts were split between China Telecom, the leading state player in China, and China Network Communications Corp, the newest national player.
The China Telecom contract is for Lucent to build an optical network in Beijing with a 10 gigabit-per-second capacity.
``It's the fastest of its kind in a city network,' he said.
China Netcom Corp awarded Lucent a contract to sell equipment for its high speed backbone currently under development.
In a smaller, but politically significant deal, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television approved the sale of equipment to upgrade the digital video backbones of Chinese cable television systems.
Cable companies are barred from offering data and Internet services under a regulation issued last year aimed at separating the telephone and cable industries' core businesses.
But the deal indicates how cable companies are rolling out infrastructure capable of such services in spite of those rules.
BIG MARKET IN CHINA
Butters said the ATM contract with Unicom would not have been possible without Lucent's $24 billion acquisition last year of Ascend Communications Inc, the number four U.S. data networking company, which gave it the technology.
It was one of a rash of mergers in the sector. Nortel Networks bought Bay Networks in 1998, and Alcatel bought Newbridge Networks Corp in a $7.1 billion deal last year.
``The consolidation is being driven by the competitive threat from Cisco,' Butters said.
Another Lucent official suggested a Chinese government freeze on CDMA technology would be temporary.
``We anticipate the project will go forward in the future,' said Chi-Ho Lin, head of Lucent's China wireless operations.
He said China Unicom wrapped up a round of talks last week on Lucent's bid to sell CDMA equipment, but declined to say when they would resume.
Talks between other companies have also been frozen, and an MII official last week said CDMA had been ``suspended' because China Unicom had not completed procedures.
But Lin said: ``We haven't received anything official about a delay of the whole CDMA process.' |
