ZTE gets nod to sell in Russia

Zhongxing Telecommunications Corp (ZTE), one of the largest telecom-equipment providers on the mainland, announced yesterday that it has won approval for selling its GSM-standard products in Russia.

ZTE said it secured an GSM network entry licence from Russia s Ministry for Communication and Information on May 29.

It said it already has licences for selling its products for fixed-line, CDMA-standard and intelligent networks in Russia.

In March, the company entered into an agreement with Smarts, one of the largest mobile-communication operators in Russia, for the construction of a 100,000-line mobile exchange centre and 40 base stations; and expansion of a 60,000-line exchange centre.

ZTE, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, had planned to go public in Hong Kong also but decided to suspend its listing plan in April due to the weak global economy.

In the first quarter of this year, the Shenzhen-based company recorded an increase of 28.5 per cent in net profit from a year earlier, boosted by a steady growth in the domestic telecoms market.

Its sales rose by 31.2 per cent year on year to 2.169 billion yuan (US$261.3 million) in the first quarter.

Currently, ZTE has operations in over 40 countries and regions such as Bangladesh, Thailand, the United States, Egypt and Hong Kong.