Chinese Huawei Technologies, a leading telecom equipment supplier, on Wednesday signed a commercial contract amounting to 30 million US dollars with Cambodia's mobile operator AZ Communication Company Ltd (AZCOM).

Under the contract, Huawei will provide and install on CDMA equipment, transmission and supporting systems for AZCOM CDMA 2000 1X project planned to launch in Cambodia at the end of 2006.

This is the biggest supply contract ever signed by Huawei in Cambodia and represents the largest single supply contract for CDMA 2000 1X technologies, according to Lim Bun Sour, president of AZCOM. The contract will enable AZ Communications to build the first phase of its new CDMA 2000 1X mobile and wireless business in Cambodia, he added.

Cambodia's AZ Communication Company received a license from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to install the CDMA 2000 system, becoming the fifth mobile service provider in the country.

"It is the first Chinese and Cambodia telecommunication concessional loan project. We will assist to realize AZCOM's goal in becoming the first class telecommunication operator in Cambodia, " said Liu Qi, vice president of Huawei's headquarters in Asia Pacific region.

"And we are confidence that this project will provide more diversified services and data services, attracting more telecom demands from the booming Cambodia economy," he added.

Incorporated in 1988 and based in Shenzhen, China, Huawei Technologies specializes in the research and development, customized network solutions in fixed, mobile, optical and data communications networks. It is a key player in China's telecom market and is quickly becoming an active participant in the global telecom market.

Cambodia now has the mobile phone users of more than 880,000 among the population of about 13 million. Most of the users are Phnom Penh citizen.

Source: Xinhua