Citic Pacific is to buy equipment worth more than US$80 million from United States-based Lucent Technologies for use in its 32,000-kilometre optic fibre network in the mainland.
'The signing of this contract markes another milestone in our long-term strategic to position ourselves at the forefront of the future communications market in China,' Citic chairman Larry Yung Chi-kin said.
The equipment would enable the nationwide network to operate optical-transmission technology, Mr Yung said.
The network, which will cover 23 provinces and municipalities, was expected to start contributing to profit next year.
About 20,000 km of the network had been built and was expected to be operational in the third quarter of this year, Mr Yung said.
The purchase of the equipment from Lucent was the start of co-operation between the companies, he said.