FYI:
Keynote speakers are from the Ministry of Information Industry, China
Unicom and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Their
topics and key presentation points include:
Chinaîs National Telecom Development, Future Plans and Policy
- Chinaîs Telecom Market Reform and Policy
- Review of Current Telecom Network Development
- Infrastructure Development Targets
- The Wireless Markets and Reorganization
- The Development of Internet and E-commerce
- The Major Current and Potential Players in China's Telecom Market
- WTO and Its Impacts
** Lei Zhenzhou
Director
Science and Technology Information Center
China Academy of Telecommunications Research
Ministry of Information Industry (MII), China
China Unicom ùC The Full Service Provider in China
- Present Situation and Development Plans of China Unicom
- Unicomîs Market Growth in Cellular, Fixed Line and Paging
- CDMA Development Plans
- Challenges and Opportunities for Broadband and Multimedia Communications
- Development Policies and Planning for the Future
- Policies and Plans on New Technologies (VoIP, DWDM etc.)
**Dr. Hu Qingdong
Department of Technology
China Unicom
Moving Toward the 3G: Mobile Technologies, Markets, and New Services in
China
- China's Current Mobile Market Growth
- Key Mobile Service Operators
- The Market Potential for Wireless Internet Services
- Mobile Data Market: WAP and GPRS
- CDMA Market Development and Key Players
- Moving Toward the 3G: standardization, operation, service and resources
**Prof. Qiliang ZHU
Director General
Telecom R&D Center
Beijing University Post and Telecommunications
More officials from China to be confirmed.
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China Electronics Industry Grows 15.5 Percennt In January, February
China's electronics and information product manufacturing industry has
maintained a rapid, steady and healthy growth this year. The whole
industry realized a 15.5 percent year-on-year growth in the gross output
value in the first two months of this year, 1.3 percentage points higher
than the figure for January.
Among the three categories of electronics and information products,
investment products posted the fastest growth, which was 23.4 percent,
five percentage points higher than January; consumer products underwent a
slowdown in production with the growth staying at 2 percent only; and
electronics elements and devices developed steadily by 23.1 percent.
The output value generated by overseas-funded enterprises swelled by 20
percent, nearly five percentage points higher than the average level of
the whole industry.
Meanwhile, state-owned enterprises is taking a turn for the better, with
the output rising 11 percent in the January-February period, as compared
with the negative growth in January. Nonetheless, the state economy
remains to be the major force in the electronics industry, with the output
accounting for 47 percent of the total.
-----------------------------
EU Fails to Reap Coveted Concessions in Chinese Parley
China's entry into the World Trade Organization is slated to be complete
by this summer. However, those plans may not ultimately be carried out, as
China and the European Union have failed to meet eye to eye on certain
aspects of the deal. The EU had hoped to gain more concessions from China
than the U.S. received when its talks with China concluded last November.
The EU wanted to gain access to Chinese telecommunications and insurance
Industries. The EU is hoping to garner a 51 percent stake in joint
ventures with China, which would grant a controlling interest to the
European Union. The U.S. has negotiated a 50-50 stake in joint ventures.
-----------------------------
China Unicom Prepares for IPO by Ending Foreign-Firm Ventures
China Unicom dissolved all joint ventures with foreign partners, clearing
the way for a stock listing overseas. The unusual structure of the joint
venture allowed foreign firms to invest US$1.4 billion for stakes in
running
telephone companies with China Unicom, even though overseas firms are
barred from the industry in China. Negotiations to dissolve the agreements
were long and difficult, and some companies had threatened to sue rather
than accept settlements.
Chinese regulators ordered the agreements dissolved after ruling that
foreign companies had invested illegally. The foreign companies, which
negotiated their settlements separately, generally agreed to a repayment
of their investments, plus an interest rate lower than they expected as a
return on their capital, and a chance to buy China Unicom stock at its
initial public offering.
-----------------------------
Unicom Will Be Listed with Assets in 12 Provinces
China Unicom will be listed with its telecommunication network assets in
12 provinces, and the rest assets will be gradually injected in, according
to media reports in Hong Kong.
Unicom had 5 million mobile telephone users in late 1999, 7 million users
in February this year, and is expected to have 18 million users by the end
of 2000.
On paging service, Unicom obtained US$1 billion of turnover in 1999.
Unicom had 48 million paging users, of which, 45 million users came from
China Paging, which was part of China Telecom, and 3 million were users of
Unicom services.
On fixed network service, Unicom has 20,000 kilometers of fiber optic
fixed network that will be extended to 40,000 kilometers at the end of
this year. Unicom is currently negotiating with the Ministry of Railways
for purchasing all of its fiber optic network assets.
-----------------------------
China Telecom Will Expand IP Service to 25 Cities
China Telecom will expand IP telephone service to 25 developed cities. At
present, people can use IP telephone cards to communicate in 14 cities
including Nanjing, Shanghai, Kunmin and Harbin.
-----------------------------
Guangdong Seeks Greater Cooperation with Ericsson
China's Guangdong Province will expand its areas of cooperation
with Ericsson of Sweden in telecommunications in the years ahead,
according to
provincial Party chief Li Changchun. Li made the remark in a meeting with
Ericsson
President Kurt Hellstroem on March 29. He said the province is
pushing forward its information project, technology is developing rapidly,
and mobile telecommunications is gradually integrating with Internet
technology, adding that in this way, Guangdong is fully prepared to
promote various forms of cooperation with the global telecommunications
giant.
Li also offered congratulations for a US$500 million contract signed
recently between Ericsson (China) Co. Ltd. and a local mobile
telecommunications company for the capacity expansion of GSM phones.
-----------------------------
Ericsson and Jilin Unicom Started GSM Project
On April5, Ericsson and Jilin Unicom signed a US$20 million contract for
the 3rd-phase capacity expansion of GSM network. Beijing Ericsson Mobile
Communication Co. Ltd. will provide equipment to the project, including
wireless base stations, base station controllers and a mobile switching
center. The project will be completed in June. After the capacity
expansion, Jilin Unicom will increase its GSM capacity to 400,000 users,
thus expand the service over the whole province.
With this contract, Ericsson has provided equipment of US$60 million to
Jilin Unicom.
-----------------------------
P-Com and Guangdong Unicom Build Broadband Wireless Access Network
Recently, P-Com announced that the broadband wireless access trial network
was completed by P-Com and Guangdong Unicom . The network adopts LMDS
technology, supporting services like voice, data, image and standards as
ATM, TCP/IP, MPEG2.
In related news, P-Com has signed a cooperative agreement with Datang
Telecom, Beijing P&T Telephone Equipment Factory, Beijing Multi-Position
Telecom Company and Beijing Xin Jietong Company, formally setting up
Datang¦Li Kangpu (Beijing) Communication Equipment Corporation.
-----------------------------
China Unicom Selects AsiaInfo to Build World's Largest VoIP Network
AsiaInfo Holdings, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a major
contract to build a 311-city nationwide Voice over IP (VoIP) network in
China for China Unicom. The agreement, signed on March 31, follows on the
successful completion of a pilot project led by AsiaInfo to provide IP
telephony service in 12 cities in China.
Under the terms of its contract with China Unicom, AsiaInfo will build
what is expected to be the largest VoIP network in the world. Once
completed, this network will be able to carry 8 billion minutes of long
distance calls per year, providing dial-up services to consumers and
businesses through wire-line as well as wireless connections.
-----------------------------
Shaghai Extending Internet Access to Public Phones
The Shanghai Municipal Telephone Bureau has recently initiated a project
that will make it possible for data communications to be accessed at
roadside public telephones. The QuidwayA8010 access server made by the
Shenzhen Huawei Technology Co. Ltd. has been chosen to build the network
platform.
The project will also provide a unified Internet access platform to all
ISPs of Shanghai, indicating a new stage of Internet access construction
in China. It will ease the pressure of growing data calls on public
service telecom network (PSTN).
-----------------------------
Marconi Orders Top US$20 Million as Beijing Builds Super-fast Networks
The Beijing Telecommunications Administration (BTA) has boosted orders
forMarconi's network equipment to more than US$20 million, with the latest in
a series of contracts.
The new order reinforces Marconi`s position as a supplier of its SDH
(synchronous digital hierarchy) network technology to the Chinese capital,
where BTA is carrying out a major upgrade of its rapidly expanding fixed
and mobile communications systems.
Marconi's SDH equipment will enable BTA's network to operate at
bandwidths of 2.5 Gbps to handle growth in communications traffic. It
also prepares the way for the addition of Marconi's DWDM (dense wavelength
division multiplexing) technology in the future, allowing transmissions
speeds many times higher.
The latest order, is for Marconi`s Series 3 SMA-16 multiplexers - part of
a new generation of advanced SDH equipment which was given its world
launch in Beijing. Marconi is also supplying BTA with systems to manage
the network, including its MV38 & EM-OS product. As part of the new
contract, Marconi is also supervising the installation of the equipment by
its joint venture company, Shanghai GPT.
-----------------------------
Bell Labs Opens Office in Beijing
Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies,
announced that it has opened a research facility in Beijing. Bell Labs
Research (China) is headed by David Lee, who previously headed Bell's
networking researching department. The Beijing research office's work will
focus on networking, communications software, optic networking, computer
science and applied mathematics.
"This facility will offer Bell Labs and leading scientists in China the
opportunity to learn from each other and advance China's expanding
telecommunications industry," said Arun Netravali, president of Bell Labs,
which has 30,000 scientists and
engineers in more than 25 countries. Bell Labs opened a development lab in
Shanghai in May 1997. With the Beijing research facility, Bell Labs will
have about 300 employees in Beijing and Shanghai. In the past two years,
Bell Labs developed software-based network switches for data and voice
networks, an all-optical router and technology for pin-pointing the
location of wireless emergency calls. |
