Marconi solutions are now playing an increasingly important role in China’s plans to double the number of fixed telephone lines serving its 1.2 billion people: from just over 100 million in 1999, to more than 200 million by 2004. The country’s 20 million line-per-year fixed network growth is more than the rest of Asia put together. Last year there were 25 million new mobile users in China.
The new contracts won by Marconi include four from provincial operators owned by China Unicom – the country’s second largest telecoms company. They are in Shanghai, Guangdong, Anhui and Fujian. A fifth provincial operator, Ningxia Telecom, part of China Telecom, has also bought Marconi SDH to develop its network.
Two of China’s major regional utility companies, North China and North East China Electric & Power, have chosen Marconi SDH to build an inter-company connection carrying voice and data at high speed over optical fibre.
In southern China, regional cable television company Jiangmen CATV has purchased a Marconi switching solution which will create a new high speed internet protocol (IP) network serving banks, power utilities, businesses and official organisations including customs. The network will use IP over asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology, combining the flexibility and access of internet with the very high speeds attainable from ATM.
Yudan Jin, Marconi Communications’ president, Asia Pacific, said: Our latest wins are clear evidence that operators throughout China see Marconi as a major solutions-provider in a broad range of network applications, as the country continues its programme of modernising and expanding its communications infrastructure.
They also demonstrate the success of our strategy to develop our position in China with multiple routes to market, including joint manufacturing ventures with key local players and a strong marketing and customer service presence in-country.
Last year Marconi set up the Guilin Marconi Technology (GMT) joint venture in partnership with the Guilin Optical Communications Engineering Factory, which is part of the Chinese Ministry of Information Industries (MII) – the government department responsible for national communications policy.
In 1996 it formed the Shanghai Marconi joint venture in partnership with the Shanghai Railway Communications Equipment Factory – another state-owned manufacturer of telecoms equipment. Its customer base includes China’s rail companies.
In addition to its joint ventures, Marconi has well-established customer-facing operations in Beijing and Hong Kong, supported by regional offices.
Marconi plc is a global communications and IT company with around 55,000 employees world-wide. Marconi has research and development facilities in 19 countries, manufacturing operations in 16 countries, and serves customers in over 100 countries. It supplies advanced communications solutions and the key technologies and services for the Internet. Marconi plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the symbol MONI.
