KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia-Motorola Inc. has bought a 38 percent stake in a joint venture company that will build a digital radio network in China. The company will use Motorola’s integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network technology.
Leader Universal Holdings Berhad of Penang, Malaysia, will hold a 52 percent stake. The third partner is Kimsign International Ltd. Total cost of the project is estimated at $80 million.
The joint venture will be called KL Telecom Investments Group Inc. It will build the iDEN system through another joint venture, Zhuhai New Galaxy International Electronics Co. Ltd.
KL Telecom owns a portion of New Galaxy; other partners in that venture include Zhuhai Hua Sheng Enterprise Holdings Co. Ltd. and Milky Way Corp.
Motorola’s investment is being handled by the Motorola International Development Corp.
The first network will be built in Fujian province and cover four cities.
Illinois-based Motorola has a significant presence in China, particularly in paging and cellular businesses. Supply contracts for cellular infrastructure announced earlier this year are valued at $268 million. Motorola has a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications to create an internetwork paging protocol that would make multifrequency paging possible in China. The U.S. company has more than 7,000 employees in China.
