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To: Dealer who wrote (8464)	10/18/2000 7:09:22 AM
From: Dealer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

QCOM--China Unicom to speak on Qualcomm networks BEIJING, Oct 18 (Reuters) - China United Telecommunications Corp, China's number two mobile phone firm, said on Wednesday it will hold a news conference to field questions about its plans to use wireless technology from U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc (NasdaqNM:QCOM - news). The news conference, set for Thursday, is unprecedented for the secretive, state-owned China Unicom and could mark the first formal annoucement of its intention to build a network using the narrow-band CDMA standard pioneered by Qualcomm. On Monday, the chief of China Unicom's mobile department told Reuters the company would go ahead with such a network, reversing a decision in June to drop the technology. Qualcomm's stock price surged more than 10 percent that day to $77. It's shares closed on Tuesday at $74\03. The official revealed few details about the plan. But foreign and Chinese industry executives said Unicom would invite tenders next month to build a 10 million subscriber narrow-band CDMA (code division multiple access) network. Such a network could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to North American, Chinese and South Korean network equipment and handset makers. Firms positioning to cash in on a CDMA roll-out in China include Canada's Nortel Networks (Toronto:NT.TO - news) and Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU - news) of the United States, as well as South Korean firms Samsung Electronics , Hyundai Electronics Industries and LG Electronics . Qualcomm sells CDMA chipsets to mobile telephone makers and earns royalties on CDMA equipment sales. Several Chinese firms have wholly-owned or joint venture CDMA production plants, such as ZTE Corporation , China Eastern Communications Co , Datang Telecom and Qiao Xing Universal Telephone (NasdaqNM:XING - news). Almost all China's 65 million mobile phone subscribers use the rival GSM (global system for mobile communications) standard promoted by European firms. GSM is used far more widely around the globe than CDMA, a key advantage since it allows customers to roam from country to country using the same phone. But CDMA allows phone companies to cram more calls and information across limited airwaves than GSM -- a plus in a crowded market like China. CDMA also provides the foundation for future-generation services such as high-speed Internet. Unicom's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, China Unicom Ltd (NYSE:CHU - news), would not be involved in the roll-out of CDMA but would have the option of buying the network if it is profitable, industry sources said.