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Telecom Equipment Market Continues to Be Sluggish in 2003



BEIJING, Mar 03, 2003 (SinoCast via COMTEX) -- Some analysts and government officials forecast that the telecom equipment market of China will continue to shrink in 2003 in that the telecom operators will still cut down their expenses on the purchase of telecom equipment. Last year, the sluggish market has posed heavy financial burdens on many telecom equipment companies, except for Shenzhen Zhongxing Telecommunication Co., Ltd. (ZTE), which had performed very well last year.

Therefore, this year will be another hard time for the telecom equipment companies.

The latest statistics show that last year, the investment in the fixed assets of the telecom industry decreased to RMB 210.6 billion, 15% down. The investment in the fixed assets measures the expenses of telecom operators on the infrastructure and equipment.

Wu Jichuan, the ministry of the Minister of Information Industry, said that the investment in the equipment will experience a slight decrease to RMB 210 billion.

After the independent analysis, Nuosheng Telecom Consulting forecasts that capital expenditures of the telecom operators will be RMB 200 billion, even lower than the forecast of the Ministry of Information Industry. Nuosheng further believes that the capital expenditures on the tlecom equipment will be likely to recover in 2004 if the Chinese telecom operators can release the next-generation wireless network, namely the 3G network as scheduled.
From Source: International Finance News page 7, Friday, February 28, 2003
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KEYWORD: BEIJING
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Marketing
Investment
SUBJECT CODE: Computers, Telecom and Information Technolog