4/4/00 The Beijing Telecommunications Authority (BTA) has boosted orders from Marconi plc (London, UK) to more than $20 million with the latest in a series of contracts.

The new order will supply additional Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) network technology to the Chinese capital, where BTA is carrying out a major upgrade of its fixed and mobile communications systems. Marconi's SDH equipment will enable BTA's network to operate at 2.5 Gbits/sec to handle enormous growth in Chinese communications traffic. It also prepares the way for the addition of Marconi's dense wavelength-division multiplexing technology in the future.

The latest order is for Marconi's Series 3 SMA-16 multiplexers, part of a new line of SDH equipment launched in Beijing. Marconi is also supplying BTA with systems to manage the network, including its MV38 & EM-OS product. As part of the new contract, Marconi is also supervising the installation of the equipment by its joint venture company, Shanghai GPT.

Marconi's SDH equipment is also being used in a major new national network for China National Pipeline Corporation and several regional and local networks, including those being developed by the Yunnan Electricity Industry Bureau and Dalian UNICOM.