Huawei Technologies announced that it has signed a network contract to construct a CDMA2000 network for Movilnet, one of the largest wireless telecom operators in Venezuela.

Under the terms of the contract, Huawei will provide a wide range of CDMA20001X/1xEV-DO equipment including Radio Access Network and Core Network Softswitch. The contract, which marks a significant milestone in the strategic cooperation between Huawei and Movilnet, will make Huawei a leading provider of CDMA equipment in the Venezuela market.

Widely recognized by CDMA operators worldwide, Huawei’s industry-leading BTS features open framework, broadband platform and professional radio-frequency technologies. As the first wireless communications solution provider to integrate Softswitch technology into a core CDMA network, Huawei bases its CDMA Softswitch solution on the distributed technology of traffic control and bearer, which offers such advantages as huge capacity and high integration. IP transmission solution enables operators to reduce transmission costs significantly.

Mr. JosГ© MarГ­a de Viana, CEO of Movilnet, commented, “We consider Huawei as our strategic and reliable partner that can help expand our CDMA2000 network and meet our requirements. Movilnet plans to offer the best 3G multimedia and communication services to our customers in 2006. We firmly believe that our network subscriber number will reach 8 million by the year-end.”

“We look forward to a closer long-term partnership with Movilnet,” said Mr. Jiang Yafei, President of Huawei Latin America. “Huawei’s leading technologies and professional experience will allow our customers to enjoy high-quality network coverage and more diversified services.”
To date, Huawei has won 19 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO commercial contracts and deployed CDMA networks serving over 40 million subscribers globally. In November 2005, Frost & Sullivan ranked Huawei “Top Three” in global CDMA market.

More than 100 million mobile phone subscribers have signed up for 3G, according to the latest report from Strategy Analytics on Thursday.

According to the report, around 70 million subscribers have signed up for WCDMA technologies, with another 30 million using CDMA2000 EV-DO systems. It is widely acknowledged that EV-DO entered the market significantly later than WCDMA.

The research firm said that “finally, 3G has become a want-item for the user.

Sara Harris, who authored the report, said “Much of this success is due to the strong pushes by influential carriers like NTTDoCoMo, Hutchison 3G and SK Telecom… and more recently Vodafone and Verizon Wireless, who have worked hard to drive 3G uptake among their subscribers.”

Strategy Analytics believes the US market is set for rapid growth during 2007 when the country’s largest mobile phone provider Cingular Wireless launches its HSDPA technology.

Finnish vendor Nokia is to expand its cdma2000 handset portfolio through a $129m (ВЈ70m) contract with Korean manufacturer Pantech & Curitel.

Under the deal, Pantech will supply two handset models to Nokia for distribution between June and December of this year. Both models will be equipped with 3G EV-DO technology. One device is known to be the 6315i, while information on the other has not yet emerged.

Since Nokia made a u-turn on its EV-DV strategy in 2004, instead opting to focus on EV-DO, the vendor has looked elsewhere to bring its EV-DO handsets to market.

Nokia’s first EV-DO handset went on sale in the US through reseller LetsTalk.com last month.

The 6305i is available on the Verizon Wireless VCAST network for $150 (ВЈ80).

Although Nokia does make CDMA devices, the 6305i is the company’s first EV-DO model, although it is a Nokia by badge only. The device is actually manufactured by Korean manufacturer SK Teletech.