A Rising Star

At the recently-concluded ITU TelecomAsia 2002, Shenzhen-based network solutions company, ZTE, showcased, not only the fruits of its decisive R&D efforts in mobile, data and optical arena, but the advancement China has made in telecom equipment manufacturing. Consider the things it has put in display: CDMA and WCDA solutions, WLAN, voice, data and image transmission services enabled by its Softswitch, Internet surfing, Video-on-Demand service offered by its Broadband Data Network.

That the ITU has again chosen Hong Kong as venue for ITU Telecom Asia, indicates the public confidence in the development potential of the Chinese telecom market even though 2002 is a difficult year for the telecom industry all over the world. We are here to show the profitable new services the carriers could exploit, says Shi Lirong, senior vice- president, ZTE.

Most ITU vendor participants agree that attendance at ITU does not mean closing deals at the convention or exhibition hall, but rather showcasing the strides they have made in the technology they are pushing.This, according to Shi, works with the company that no longer wants to be known as a mere telecom gear maker.

ZTE is now becoming a network solutions provider with a full range of tailor-made solutions for customers in high-, middle- and low-end markets, he adds.Listed at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1997, ZTE has successfully developed 70 types of equipment in 16 categories of network exchange, connection and transmission for PCS, GSM and CDMA systems.

The year 2001 was significant to ZTE as it was then that the company won a deal to supply complete CDMA solutions from base stations to switching systems to China Unicom, besting other domestic gear makers that only bagged switching system contract.Last year, when the mobile carrier decided to upgrade its network to CDMA1x, ZTE again clinched the contract amounting 1.

57 billion yuan (US$190 billion). ZTE was awarded the contract to upgrade the CDMA network of Guandong, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shanxi, Jiling, Hainan, Chonqing, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xizang, Hubei,as other provinces. That important breakthrough increased ZTE s market share in China Unicom s CDMA network, Shi says.

The company prides itself for having been the first manufacturer to begin softswitch R&D in China which began in 1998. ZTE has done a great deal in market initiation, standardisation, technical research, application promotion to drive the advancement of Softswitch technology not just in China but globally as well, says Dr Li Ming, technical planning manager, Softswitch product department, ZTE.

Li claims the Softswitch solutions which ZTE developed, satisfy the networking demand of incumbent operators----new entrants and mobile carriers alike. Our Softswitch technology could offer local services via IP MAN (Metro Area Network), long haul service via backbone data network, and it interconnects with existing PSTN or IN network as well as other core network solutions for 3G, Li says.

ZTE conducted China s first Softswitch trial for China Netcom in 2001. Since then, five of the six telecom operators in China have begun to experiment on and deploy Softwitch projects, Li adds.Simultaneous with the initiation of R&D for GSM and IS95 in 1998, the company also begun its research on 3G technology, taking an active part in standardisation efforts organised by the ITU in collaboration with China Wireless Telecommunication Standard (CWTS), an organisation that defines the standards for China wireless telecommunication.

The unit last year passed the two rounds of tests conducted by MNTnet, the mobile testing network of China s Ministry of Information Industry. When China grants 3G licenses this year, ZTE will have its UMTS products available, says Wang Yong, UMTS project manager, ZTE. Last year marked the formation of ZTE Mobile Phones Division which engages in system development, protocol development and chip design of the mobile products for different systems.

So far, ZTE is the only vendor that can supply mobile phones in three systems---GSM, CDMA and PCS. While serving the domestic market, the company has been establishing global presence since 1995. We have around 13,000 employees globally with 50 overseas branches and products that are deployed in 40 countries all over the world, says Shi.