Alcatel wins Shanghai contract

European telecoms equipment maker Alcatel has won a contract to expand China Mobile (Hong Kong)'s Shanghai network with enhanced data services capabilities.

The French company's Chinese flagship - Alcatel Shanghai Bell - will provide Shanghai Mobile, the local branch of Hong Kong-listed China Mobile, with Alcatel's Evolium solutions to allow it to meet the higher requirements of general packet radio services (GPRS) data.

China Mobile rolled out a high-speed 2.5-generation GPRS network for its global system for mobile (GSM) communication services last October.

Alcatel said the project, due to be completed in June, would increase Shanghai Mobile's GSM network capacity to about 10 million subscribers.

It did not disclose the value of the contract.

Alcatel Shanghai Bell also announced it had signed contracts with China Unicom, the mainland's No 2 mobile carrier, and the National Power Telecommunications Centre (NPTC) to build a transmission backbone network for NPTC.

The 985km network, which will connect Wuhan, in Hubei province, to Guangdong, will enable easy communication between power companies. It is expected to be completed in July.