Nobember 8, 2001--Nortel Networks has been awarded contracts valued at approximately US$18 million to provide optical long haul backbone networks for China Mobile, the largest mobile operator in the People's Republic of China. Nortel is also investing in China to deliver key next generation networking solutions, and its R&D facilities in Beijing are expected to play an important role in new technology development.
China Mobile plans to deploy Nortel Networks OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line Systems in Zhejiang and Hubei Provinces as well as in Nanning, the capital city of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Nortel's OPTera Metro 4200 Multiserve Platform will be deployed in Luzhou, Sichuan Province and Hubei Province. The OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line Systems use DWDM technology to maximize optical fiber capacity, allowing more data to be carried across the Internet backbone.
China Mobile plans to use the increased speed and capacity of its network to address growing demand for high-speed mobile Internet services and e-commerce applications as its ranks of GSM wireless subscribers moves beyond its current 100 million.
Nortel Networks has worked with China Mobile for more than a decade to build GSM networks in eight provinces, supporting 9.6 million China Mobile subscribers. This year, Nortel Networks announced US$265 million in new GSM business with China Mobile.