"....Interesting goings-on across the Pond....":
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China Netcom May Seek IPO Abroad in 2001
China Netcom Corp., the third entrant in China's state-owned
telecommunications services sector, may seek to sell shares overseas next
year to finance future growth, according to news reports.
The company, which is establishing an 8,000-km broadband network to cover
large Chinese cities, is in preliminary talks with the Chinese government
about how to proceed with an initial public offering abroad.
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Williams Communications Buying Interests in China-, Japan-U.S. Cables From
Alliance Partner SBC
Williams Communications and SBC Communications Inc., announced on April 12
that Williams has agreed to buy SBC's interests in two undersea
communications cables between the United States and China and Japan. The
agreement, which has been approved by the boards of directors of the two
companies and is subject to review by applicable governmental authorities,
furthers the strategic alliance formed over a year ago between the two
companies. The alliance gives SBC access to long-haul transport capacity
at industry-leading prices for its voice and data business, while
providing Williams with an anchor tenant for its advanced, fiber-based ATM
backbone network which will soon reach more than 125 markets nationwide
and countries around the world. Currently, Williams' U.S. network has more
than 24,000 miles in operation and will reach 33,000 miles by the end of
2000. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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China Mobile Selects AsiaInfo to Build China's First National Wireless
Internet Backbone
AsiaInfo Holdings, Inc. announced on April 12 that it has signed a
contract with China Mobile to build the first national wireless Internet
backbone in China. Under the terms of the agreement, AsiaInfo will build
an Internet backbone to initially cover six major cities in China:
Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. This will
be China's fourth national commercial Internet backbone.
In addition, the company will provide its convergent billing software
product (AIOBS) as well as its messaging software product (AIMC) to
support China Mobile's convergent voice and data services. Both products
are WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) enabled to support the new
generation WAP services to be provided by China Mobile.
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SINA.com Teams With eTouch.com to Offer Unified Messaging Service
SINA.com, a leading Internet destination site for Chinese communities
worldwide, and eTouch.com, the next-generation unified communications
portal, announced that they will together offer free global unified
messaging services to SINA.com registered users. Through this agreement,
SINA's U.S. members will enjoy the benefit of one-click access to voice,
fax and e-mail messages via their SINA account. The messaging service,
which includes toll-free long distance access for the first 3 months, will
be made available to SINA members beginning April 1, 2000 and can be
accessed through etouch.sina.com. Users will be able to connect
with friends and family in Greater China and throughout the world more
easily with the eTouch(SM) Global Messaging feature, which routes voice
messages to any eTouch members by simply dialing a local access number..
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China Telecom Chooses RADVision's H.323 Technologyto Develop Voice Over IP
Solutions
RADVision announced a licensing agreement under which China Telecom will
license RADVision's market leading H.323 enabling software for the
development of the IP telephony system in China.
China Telecom plans to create a VoIP communication solution that will be
used by call center developers, ISPs, and enterprise clients. The network
will be interoperable across all major platforms. China Telecom's
long-term strategy is to migrate China's TDN telephony system to an IP
system. By replacing the backbone exchange, China Telecom will have the
first IP telephony system in China to be based on industry-standard IP
technology for real-time communication over packet-based networks. |
