Leading Chinese telecom equipment provider ZTE Corp. (SZA: 000063; HK: 0763) announced Friday that it had signed a 3G handset supply agreement with Hutchison 3G, one of the world's largest third-generation (3G) mobile operators.
 
The first batch of ZTE and Hutchison 3G co-branded WCDMA handsets have been shipped to Britain and will be launched into the market for Christmas, said a spokesman of the Shenzhen-based ZTE Friday.

Hutchison 3G operates 3G services in nine markets including Britain, Italy, Sweden, Australia, and Hong Kong, with more than 10 million 3G customers.

ZTE has been working closely with Hutchison 3G for one year to develop the handsets and agree on the contract, according to the spokesman.

ZTE's contract with Hutchison 3G is the company's most recent cooperation with international Tier One operators. This month ZTE has also concluded a major R&D agreement with France Telecom.

ZTE sold more than 10 million handsets worldwide in 2004. The Shenzhen-based company announced Saturday that it had become the first Chinese company with video call service on its mobile handsets. It is the second company supporting video service after South Korea's Samsung.

"Via ZTE's 3G CDMA2000 system, we can provide video call services between video handsets, between the video handset and the PC soft terminal, and between the video handset and the fixed-line video telephone," according to the company.

(Shenzhen Daily December 19, 2005)