Company wins exclusive contract to provide Emcali solutions to expand WiMAX coverage

19 August 2008, Shenzhen, China - ZTE Corporation ("ZTE"), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, today announced that it has clinched an exclusive bid from Colombia's leading operator Emcali to build the country's first WiMAX 16e network.  For the 3.5G WiMAX 16e project, ZTE will provide Emcali core network equipment, wireless access equipment and various outdoor/indoor terminals.  Emcali, which was awarded by the Colombian government WiMAX licenses two years ago, has been required to make the network commercially available by end of this year.

After a thorough bidding process, Emcali chose ZTE to exclusively provide them the network equipment in developing comprehensive commercial network services and advanced WiMAX technologies in Colombia. Under the project, ZTE will also provide WiMAX base stations to help Emcali offer extensive mobile wireless coverage in the Colombian regions of Cali and Popayan.

Upon completion of the project, Emcali will be able to offer WiMAX mobile services besides providing fixed line phone services, network transmission and IPTV businesses. The company is among the growing number of telecom operators worldwide putting extra efforts in developing advanced WiMAX technology to address users' needs for highly advanced mobile wireless communication services. International research firm Pyramid Research predicts the global WiMAX subscribers to grow from over 2.1 million in 2007 to 41 million in 2012, with emerging markets accounting for 57 percent of all customers by 2012. 

"ZTE is committed to providing our customers with the highest quality of customized solutions to meet their specific business requirements. Emcali is not only a well-known fixed telecom operator in Colombia, but also one of our best long-term partners.  Through the partnership with Emcali, we can leverage our pioneering visions and state-of-the-art technologies to achieve win-win relations, contributing our technology strengths in driving WiMAX's growth and development in Colombia and Latin America markets," said Mr. Su Jian, Chief Representative of ZTE Colombia.

ZTE is one of the biggest champions in the WiMAX industry.  It is also the only Chinese company among the 15 Board of Directors in the WiMAX Forum.  In early 2006, ZTE achieved significant in-roads in Singapore by developing the mobile WiMAX network in the island state, one of the first commercial trial networks worldwide.  Last year, the company clinched a major WiMAX terminal procurement contract with Sprint Nextel, the third largest mobile operator in the United States. 

ZTE's success in gaining international recognition in WiMAX is attributed to a strong R&D effort backed by a solid and dedicated team.  It has six R&D centres in China staffed by more than 1,000 R&D employees specializing in WiMAX, with more than 20 percent of the staff concentrating in developing terminals alone.  

ZTE is a pioneer in promoting the concept of "carrier-grade WiMAX MAN" globally, and has successfully established 21 commercial trials and trial networks for 802.16e WiMAX worldwide.  To date, ZTE has established WiMAX commercial trial centers and experiment labs in more than 20 countries and regions, including the U.S., Africa, Asia and Europe.