ZTE Touts Tunisia 3G

SHENZHEN, China -- ZTE Corporation of China has beaten all other competitor vendors to make the first ever 3G call in Tunisia.

Within three months of signing its contract with Tunisia’s PTT CERT, ZTE has completed the major network construction and installation of its initial equipment and became the first company to show the new system in action.

“This is an important milestone for ZTE in 3G network construction – both geographically in North Africa and generally around the world, as it shows we can deliver quickly and efficiently to our customers,” said Mr Ye Weimin, SVP and General Manager of the ZTE Mobile Product Division.

“We are very confident that the remainder of the network will follow soon and we look forward to demonstrating the quality of the network when the ITU World Summit on Information Technology comes to Tunisia next year.”

The speed with which ZTE completed this work indicates the world-class nature of the Corporation’s WCDMA products. Tunisia's PTT CERT appreciated the outstanding quality and stability of ZTE’s equipment: “I am very familiar with ZTE Corporation. ZTE has constantly been playing a leading role in developing new telecommunications technologies and I am fully confident of the partnership between us,” said a senior executive at PTT CERT’s central research institute.

“What is more,” he added, “ZTE has an outstanding technical team in Tunisia. I am highly satisfied with their performance.”

The WCDMA network construction that ZTE has undertaken in Tunisia covers the country’s two important cities: Sousse and Tunis. The location is made more important by the fact that Tunis will hold the second phase of the ITU World Summit on Information Technology in 2005. ZTE’s WCDMA system will provide multiple 3G services to more than 20,000 attendees from over 190 countries at this important event. Sousse is a world famous tourist resort and visited by millions of European travellers every year. ZTE’s advanced technology will enable the city’s visitors to enjoy the same quality of 3G services that they experience at home.

Over the past few years, ZTE has established a predominant position in North Africa's telecommunications markets: in 2003, ZTE was selected to build Africa's largest CDMA WLL project in Algeria; ZTE's GSM products have been used in large-scale applications in Nigeria and Ethiopia; and, in 2004, ZTE was selected by Egypt Telecom to construct a large-scale CDMA network covering the Nile River Delta.

The successful launch of this WCDMA experimental network in Tunisia has laid a solid foundation for ZTE's further expansion into the 3G markets in North Africa as well as in Europe.

ZTE Corp.