ZTE (Chinese： 中兴通讯) (Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Limited) is a publicly-owned, Chinese corporation that designs and manufactures telecommunications equipment and systems.[1]
Based in Shenzhen, and established in 1985[1] ZTE offers a wide variety of telecommunication products and services, including value-added services such as video on demand and streaming media to its customers, which are primarily telecommunications service providers, [2] mobile network operators,[3] etc.
ZTE's core products encompass wireless, telephone exchange, access, optical transmission, and data telcom gear, mobile phones and telecommunications software.[4]
History
ZTE, like many large Chinese companies, has its roots in the state, having been created in 1985 by a group of state-owned enterprises associated with China's Ministry of Aerospace.[5] Ties to the state notwithstanding, the corporation is publicly traded, making an IPO on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 1997 and another on the Hong Kong stock exchange in December of 2005.[5]
Vowing to use the money from its 2005 Hong Kong IPO to further expand R&D, overseas sales to developed nations and overseas production,[5] ZTE made headway in the international telecom market in 2006 and took 40% of new global orders for CDMA networks,[6] topping the world CDMA equipment market by number of shipments that same year.[7] 2006 also saw ZTE find a customer in the Canadian Telus.[3] More customers in developed nations soon followed, in 2007 ZTE had sold to UK's Vodafone, Spain's Telefonica and the Australian Telstra.[3] By 2008 ZTE would be able to claim its customer base was truly global; it had made sales in 140 countries.[3]
In 2009 ZTE became the third-largest vendor of GSM telecom equipment, and ZTE sales accounted for about twenty percent of all GSM gear sold that year.[8]
Products
A good deal of ZTE's customers are outside of China. For example, ZTE was awarded a contract from Viet Nam Railways valued at VND1 trillion to upgrade and modernize the railway signal and telecommunications system.[9] ZTE has also installed its Class 5 soft switch system in Global e Networks' London Docklands telecoms hub.[10]
Some of ZTE's customers are Chinese, however. As late as 2005, big Chinese telephone companies were its top customers and in 2007 the company received the go-ahead to sell 3G TD-SCDMA equipment in China from China's Ministry of Information Industry.[11]
Mobile phones
ZTE-branded mobile phones are another of the corporation's products.[12][13]
Customers
ZTE customers include, but are not limited to, Actel Ltd (Hungary),[14] Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board,[15] Cabletel,[16] CLP Group,[17] China Telecom,[18] Corisat,[18] East Telecom,[17] Euroweb International,[16] Emcali,[18] Egypt Telecom,[17] Global e networks,[10] Hebei Telecom,[19] Indigo Tajikistan,[20] Jeraisy Computer and Communication Services,[19] Jiangsu Telecom,[19] Jilin Mobile,[19] The provincial education bureau of Jiangxi,[19]Jilin Telecom,[19] Kasapa Telecom (a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited),[21] Mundo Startel,[22] Neocom,[16] Nitel,[22] OTE,[23] Rumania POS Telecom,[17] Shangdong Railcom,[19] Shanxi Telecom,[19] The municipal government of Shenzhen,[19] Sichuan Telecom,[19] Tajiktelecom,[18] Telefonica,[3] Telstra,[3], Telemar,[24] Telus,[3] Telkom,[25] Tunisia's Centre d'dtudes erecherche des telecommunications,[17] Verizon,[26] Vinaphone,[27] Vietnam Power Telecom,[28] Viet Nam Railways,[9] Vodafone,[3] Wharf T&T,[17] and WorldTel.[15]
Legal controversies
The Philippine National Broadband Network controversy is a political affair that centers upon allegations of corruption regarding the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN) for the Philippines and the awarding of its construction to ZTE.[29]
Norwegian telecommunications giant Telenor, the world’s 7th largest mobile operator, banned ZTE Corp. from October 13 until March 3, 2009 from "participating in tenders and new business opportunities because of an alleged breach of its code of conduct in a procurement proceeding.”[30]
The Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC) of Ethiopia probed to uncover what is alleged to be a shady deal between an officer at the state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) and an unidentified representative of ZTE. It was recorded soliciting a two per cent kickback from the unknown ZTE staff member. In 2006, ZTE signed an agreement to provide US$1.5 billion worth of network equipment and related engineering services to Ethiopian Telecommunication Corp.[31]
References
- ^ a b [http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ric=0763.HK Snapshot of ZTE Corp. (0763:Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited)] businessweek.com
- ^ ZTE Corp's Company Description businessweek.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h History ZTE Official Site
- ^ Product Portfolio ZTE Official Site
- ^ a b c A Global Telecom Titan Called...ZTE? businessweek.com, March 7, 2005
- ^ China-based Huawei and ZTE make headway in global telecom market DigiTimes.com. March 9, 2007
- ^ ZTE tops 2006 international CDMA market. CIOL Bureau. March 8, 2007
- ^ INTERVIEW-China's ZTE aims for fifth of global GSM gear market reuters.com, Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:53pm EST
- ^ a b Chinese firm wins $63m railway bid VNS. November 3, 2005
- ^ a b ZTE Wins Softswitch Deal Light Reading. FEBRUARY 28, 2007
- ^ ZTE and Datang Telecom Technology approved to sell 3G equipment. Reuters. March 13, 2007
- ^ ZTE to Develop 3G Mobiles For Telefonica SDA Asia Magazine, February 26. 2007
- ^ ZTE D90. Telus. 2007
- ^ ZTE wins Hungarian NGN deal ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ a b ZTE to revolutionise Bangladesh telecommunications with new national network ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ a b c ZTE scores further breakthrough in European optical transmission market ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ a b c d e f East Telecom Selects ZTE to deploy a national IP backbone Network in Uzbekistan ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ a b c d ZTE bags China Telecom´s largest metropolitan NGN project ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j ZTE to provide nationwide videoconferencing system in Saudi Arabia ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ ZTE Clinches UMTS Contract in Tajikistan ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ ZTE to install Ghana´s first CDMA2000 network ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ a b ZTE Strengthens African Market Position with Big Nigerian CDMA Contract ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ ZTE strengthens leading DSL position with new European contract win ZTE Official SIte, 2006-08-30
- ^ ZTE to provide DSL equipment to Telemar ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ ZTE goes live in Indonesia with CDMA network ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ ZTE Makes Inroads Into the U.S. businessweek.com, August 13
- ^ VinaPhone NGHLR Project Report: Larger, Faster, Stronger, Let network achieve our dream ZTE Official Site, 2009
- ^ ZTE takes leading position in Vietnam with major new CDMA network win ZTE Official Site, 2006-08-30
- ^ "De Venecia son’s team claims overprice in NBN deal - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080123-114176/De-Venecia-sons-team-claims-overprice-in-NBN-deal. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ abs-cbnnews.com, Norway's telco giant bans ZTE for 6 months
- ^ Investigators of Alleged ETC Shady Deal Granted Custody Ext’n
