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Eastcom, Samsung cooperate to promote 3G development in China
The Eastern Communications Co. Ltd. based in the capital city of Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, revealed Tuesday that it had signed a joint venture agreement with Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics, China Daily reported Wednesday.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200404/21/eng20040421_141107.shtml

The Eastern Communications Co. Ltd. based in the capital city of Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, revealed Tuesday that it had signed a joint venture agreement with Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics, China Daily reported Wednesday.

The Shanghai-listed firm's move is a bid to complete its strategic deployment for the launch of the third generation (3G) mobile communications in China, and the joint venture -- Hangzhou Samsung Eastcom Network Technology Co. Ltd., will be also be located in Hangzhou.

The two companies will invest 15 million US dollars in the venture, which has a registered capital of six million US dollars,with Samsung Electronics taking a 70 percent stake.

"This joint venture is a major step in our deployment in preparation for the launch of the 3G in China," Samsung Electronics China spokesman Li Wei was quoted by China Daily as saying.

Samsung has already developed 3G technologies based on the codedivision multiple access (CDMA) 2000 standard.

The joint venture with Eastcom will enable Samsung to gain a foothold in the European-initiated wideband CDMA (WCDMA) standard.It will be engaged in the research and development of WCDMA technologies and the localization of Samsung Electronics' technologies developed in South Korea.

An Eastcom spokesman said the joint venture may also produce WCDMA equipment at a later date.

Li said Samsung Electronics does not consider itself to be lagging behind its European competitors such as Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens regarding WCDMA in China.

"We are at the same starting point as the European companies and the only thing we need to do is to work closely with local partners to develop the market."

Besides the joint venture, Samsung Electronics also participated in the second phase of the MTNet trial, a 3G test organized by the Chinese Government, in cooperation with China Railcom.

Li said his company has also been in contact with other major players in the market, including China Mobile and China Telecom, to help introduce Samsung's experience in 3G applications.

He said Samsung Electronics will support all three 3G standardsin China, the other one being the Chinese-initiated time division synchronous CDMA.

Source: Xinhua