China: Ericsson, Lucent, Motorola, Nortel Find Work
By Josh Long
Posted on: 10/21/2002
With network investment remaining sluggish in the United States, equipment makers continue to find salvation in Asia’s high-tech hotbed: China.
Ericsson, Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. announced Monday they each have inked hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to upgrade the CDMA (code division multiple access) network of China Unicom.
China Unicom is upgrading its wireless network so it can support a larger customer base and offer e-mail and Internet access at speeds of up to 153kbps, according to Lucent, which valued its contract at more than $400 million.
Nortel valued a series of contracts at $280 million, and Motorola said its agreement was worth $446 million, according to an article published today in Reuters. Ericsson valued its agreement at more than $150 million.
The announcements mark the second series of contracts China Unicom has awarded to the equipment manufacturers. China Unicom, the second largest carrier on the mainland behind China Telecom, announced plans last year to introduce second-generation digital services.
Vendor contracts reportedly were valued at $1.5 billion.
Last year Motorola claimed to be the No. 1 supplier to China Unicom's CDMA project. In May 2001 China Unicom awarded Motorola contracts valued at $407 million in 11 provinces. |
