Optical Networks for China

Marconi has expanded its penetration of the Chinese communications market, with a wave of new contracts to supply leading-edge solutions to provincial telecoms operators, regional utility companies and a cable television enterprise which is moving into internet technology.

Marconi solutions is 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.

New contracts won by Marconi in China 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 bought Marconi switching which will create a new high speed internet protocol network serving banks, power utilities, businesses and official organisations including customs.

The network will use IP over asynchronous transfer mode (ATM).