China Telecom has awarded Motorola with a significant contract to upgrade the operator's CDMA2000 1X network to support next-generation capability.
Under the arrangement, Motorola will provide CDMA radio access infrastructure for 42 cities across nine provinces. In addition, Motorola will install the latest versions of its CDMA2000 1X equipment in thousands of cell sites.
According to Motorola, this is part of a larger project to upgrade China Telecom's entire CDMA network. Installation will take place in early 2009.
Chinese operators are planning mobile network upgrades en masse, because the government is expected to issue 3G licenses in early 2009.
The Chinese government has said it expects the nation's operators to invest at least $29 billion in 2009 alone.
Ruey-Bin Kao, president of Motorola China, said the company will continue to aggressively pursue Chinese contracts.
"China is a major market for Motorola," he said.