Under the contract, Lucent, a world leading telecommunications equipment maker, will supply CDMA system and deploy the advanced networks in 10 major provinces and cities in east and central China. "Today's signing ceremony marks a historic moment in our relationship with China Unicom, it also reflects deepening trade and business cooperation between China and the United States," said Henry Schacht, chairman and CEO of Lucent at the signing ceremony held in its headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

On May 15, China Unicom, the nation's second largest mobile telecom services provider, awarded Lucent a CDMA wireless contract worth some US$400million, allegedly the largest of its kind in China that accounts for nearly 30 percent of its entire CDMA project.

The first phase of the project covers an extensive service areaincluding Anhui, Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai, Shaanxi and Zhejiang, with more than 4 million subscribers.

CDMA, an acronym for code division multiple access, is the underlying technology for most global third generation wireless standards. With the deployment of the CDMA networks, China Unicom will be the only wireless service provider of both GSM and CDMA systems in the country.

(Eastday 06/27/2001)