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Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Alcatel says to invest $100 mn in China R&D in 2003

Reuters
Beijing, August 27

French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel said on Wednesday it would invest
$100 million in research and development in China this year, a significant
portion of which would be dedicated to 3G research.

"Alcatel announced today that R&D in 3G will constitute a significant
portion of the $100 million R&D investment in China," the company said in a
statement.

The firm said it would invest another $45 million in 3G infrastructure and
application development in China.

"This substantial commitment will further strengthen R&D localisation and
the 3G Reality Centre to support China's 3G development," it said.

The announcement followed one by Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc on Tuesday that it
would set up a research centre in Beijing for the development of advanced
wireless technology to be capitalised at $5.3 million.

Alcatel has been positioning itself to snare some of the billions of dollars
in contracts likely to be awarded as China builds next-generation networks
that allow users to surf the Internet at high speeds and download video and
audio.

The firm -- along with some of its major rivals Ericsson, Nortel Networks
Corp, Siemens, Lucent Technologies Inc -- has suffered severe losses after
telephone companies slashed spending in 2001.

But they have expanded their presence in China, the world's largest mobile
market by users, even as they sell assets, cut loss-making operations and
slash workforces elsewhere.

Alcatel created China's first foreign-invested joint stock telecoms firm in
2002 through a merger with a domestic firm to form Alcatel Shanghai Bell.
The French firm holds 50 per cent plus one share of Alcatel Shanghai Bell,
while Chinese investors, including the government, hold the rest.

© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.
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