Siemens to Supply Telecom Line for Central, Western ChinaSiemens wrapped up a contract recently with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) to supply equipment for a backbone telecommunication line to be set up in central and western China.The 1,158-kilometre SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) optical transmission project, connecting Xi'an in Shaanxi Province and Hefei in Anhui Province, is a major line set to be built between 1996-2000 and is of significant importance to expand the telecommunications capacity linking the coastal regions and inland provinces. Siemens beat NEC, Ericsson, Lucent, Nortel, Alcatel and Fujitsu in a open bidding for the project which receives loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The contract involves US$6 million, a source from Siemens said. An official from the International Bidding Corp under China National Instruments Import and Export Corp, the body responsible for organizing the bidding, said the SDH products to be installed in the project is of world's leading technological level. ``I believe the project will lend a boost to the development of the telecommunications in the central and western regions,'' he said. Siemens has a strong presence in China's telecom insutry and its SDH products win a high reputation among Chinese customers. China is to set up a series backbone transmission network covering from North to South and East to West in a bid to satisfying the upsurging demand. Indeed, the Xi'an-Hefei project is just one of a package of telecom projects Siemens clinched in China. The company has put two big contracts in pocket before this one. One is to supply equipment for a trunking project linking an entry of underwater cable in Shantou with an international communication building in Guangzhou. The project is 1,000 kilometres long. The other is an expansion project of optical transmission line between Xuzhou in Jiangsu and Zhengzhou in Henan province. With a span of 1,030 kilometres, the project involves. A statement from Siemens also released that it will clinch another deal soon to provide equipment for a 6,500-kilometre line linking Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Urumqi in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. In 1995 and 1996, Siemens also won the contract of the Beijing-Shenyang SDH transmission project and and Beijing-Shanghai SDH project. In July 1996, the company clinched a big deal to expand the GSM mobile communication network in Anhui Province |
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