Harris Corp. says it has signed a series of deals, worth a combined US$22 million, with China United Telecommunications Corp. (China Unicom) to provide wireless transmission equipment for the company's GSM (global system for mobile communications)-based cellular network.
The contract covers the company's microwave transmission systems which are used to build the backbone of the cellular network, linking base stations and switching centers together. While the use of microwave links means less room for expansion in the future, due to a limited amount of frequency spectrum available, it also means the system can be deployed much faster than if the company were to lay cables to build its network.
Harris says it has signed more than 20 deals with Unicom since March 1999 covering such equipment for use in its GSM networks in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Wuhan, Qingdao, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shangdong, Heilongjiang, Shanxi, Ningbo, and Dalian areas. With the signing of the latest contracts, Harris equipment will represent around 25 percent of microwave equipment in use by Unicom nationwide, the company added.
China Unicom is the nation's second largest telecommunications carrier, created in the mid-90s to provide some competition for the dominant China Telecom Ltd.
In mid-1999 it began a major investment project to build its wireless services.
In addition to expanding an existing GSM network, the carrier is also planning to launch several commercial CDMA (code division multiple access) networks.
Harris Corp., in California, can be found online at http://www.harris.com.