Chinese telecommunications firm, ZTE Corporation, on Tuesday signed an agreement with Kenya's leading mobile service provider, Safaricom, to supply high quality, ultra-low cost mobile handsets in the country.

Under the agreement, ZTE, a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, will brand the handsets with Safaricom name.

The handsets will retail at 1,999 shillings (about 30 U.S. dollars) for a phone with a black and white screen and 2,499 shillings (45 dollars) for a phone with a full color screen.

"By signing this agreement today, we look forward to offering our customers with durable, affordable handsets that will enable them to send text messages or make calls effectively," Safaricom's Chief Executive Michael Joseph said in Nairobi.

"I am proud to announce these quality handsets have been manufactured specially for Safaricom. We look forward to continuing with our efforts to provide quality communication to all our subscribers both in the rural and urban markets."

Initially Safaricom, which is one of the most profitable companies in Africa, will launch 200,000 units in the local market with more units to be produced depending on demand.

"These handsets are ultra-low cost for several reasons. Firstly whilst they are robust and high-quality, they do not come with some of the more complex features now regularly associated with mobile phones in developed countries," Xu Chengrong, ZTE's managing director said.

ZTE said its product range is the most complete in the world -- covering virtually every sector of the wire-line, wireless, and handset markets.

With its headquarters in China, the company is one of the fastest growing telecoms equipment companies in the world and is China's only listed telecoms manufacturer, with shares publicly traded on both Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2007)