ZTE Strengthens African Market Position with Big Nigerian CDMA Contract

ZTE Corporation has won a contract with Nigeria´s largest telecommunications operator, Nitel, to expand the country´s CDMA network.

    The contract awarded to ZTE follows a successful 10 000 line trial in the city of Maiduguri, which had been completed in June.

    Under the agreement, ZTE will provide a further 130 000 lines of CDMA equipment for the network expansion. The network, due for completion by February 2006, will cover seven major states of northeast Nigeria—Bauchi, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa, Gombe, Yobe and Borno. It will offer voice, data, SMS, Internet, and ZTE´s patented GoTa-based PTT services.

    ZTE has also signed a contract for providing 13 000 CDMA terminals including handsets and FWT(Fixed Wireless Terminal) to Nitel.

    The contract with Nitel increases ZTE´s presence in Africa. In the last three months alone, ZTE has won a contract with Kasapa Telecom Ltd, a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom, to install Ghana´s first CDMA network, and signed an agreement with Angolan fixed line operator Mundo Startel to install Africa´s first CDMA2000-based next
generation network.

    ZTE´s CDMA systems have already been deployed in more than 20 African countries including Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Zambia, Algeria and Ethiopia. To date, ZTE has deployed 25 million CDMA lines in 60 countries around the world.