United States-based telecommunications equipment maker Andrew Corp, which is being bought by New York-listed coaxial cable manufacturer CommScope for US$2.6 billion, is eyeing up to 12 per cent annual growth on the mainland, as the country introduces its third-generation mobile network infrastructure. Construction of high-speed rail networks between cities and inside metropolitan areas, and the overseas expansion of mainland telecommunications companies will also drive demand for Andrew's products on the mainland, according to Patrick Leung, the firm's managing director in the country. Andrew supplies key components and solutions to telecommunications carriers such as China Mobile and China Unicom, and equipment makers including Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp and Datang Telecom. 'For companies such as Huawei and ZTE, their expansion also means our growth. We have an edge working with them because our local team understands Chinese culture, while our group has facilities in other parts of the globe that offer quick and flexible solutions to them when they are overseas,' Mr Leung said. Mainland sales for Nasdaq-listed Andrew reached US$176 million in the year to September. Mr Leung said he did not see much growth in the existing second-generation wireless telecommunications infrastructure on the mainland, as it was a mature market. Recent developments have brightened Andrew's prospects. The mainland is testing mobile networks based on its homegrown 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, in 10 cities. Beijing is planning a pilot network in selected cities before the start of the Olympic Games in August next year. The Ministry of Railway has also committed to upgrade the nation's railway network. To grow its mainland market, Andrew has localised its research and development by writing all design specifications in Chinese. It has factories and research centres in Suzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai. The company employs about 4,000 staff on the mainland, its biggest overseas unit. In August, Andrew won a key contract with railway operator MTR Corp to upgrade its radio network in Hong Kong. Financial terms were not given. Andrew will modify the operator's communications infrastructure in stations, tunnels and other buildings to enable migration from a conventional 80-megahertz trunked radio system originally built in the 1990s to an 800MHz terrestrial trunked radio (Tetra) system. Tetra is a mobile radio standard often used by public safety and emergency organisations and supports functions such as single and group calls and data transmission. Going native The firm has localised its R&D with design specifications in Chinese Nasdaq-listed Andrew Corp is being bought by CommScope for, in US$: $2.6b