Lucent Enters Supply Agreement With Chinese Networking Company

Lucent Technologies Co. Ltd., has entered a supplier agreement with China United Telecommunications Corp. (China Unicom) to develop communications network products. Under the agreement, Lucent will become China Unicom's preferred vendor. The areas that will be addressed in the agreement include optical, network management, data, wireless, billing systems, e-commerce, order management, fiber optics, and switching. China Unicom's chairman said he hopes the partnership will expand the company's next-generation networking throughout China and worldwide. "We hope the new model of cooperation will combine advantages from both parties and will enable us to out-perform the increased level of competition in the marketplace," says Yang Xianzu, chairman of China Unicom. China Unicom, formed in 1994, provides comprehensive communications services in local, long distance, wireless, data, satellite, and paging services.