Alcatel to Expand Broadband Access in China

Paris, May 14 -- Alcatel announced it has won a contract in China’s Zhejiang Province to provide Zhejiang Telecom, a subsidiary of China Telecom, with 80,000 digital subscriber lines (DSL) as part of it its latest broadband access network expansion.

Under the agreement -- through Shanghai Bell, Alcatel’s joint venture in that country -- more than 100,000 lines will be added to Zhejiang’s network, covering major cities in the province, including Hangzhou and Ningbo. Since Alcatel made an agreement with China Telecom to deliver broadband access throughout the country in March 2001, more than 400,000 subscribers have signed up to DSL services, the company said.