TEWKSBURY, Massachusetts, United States—Hoping to take advantage of the growth potential in China, U.S.-based Starent Networks signed a deal with Eastern Communications Company to provide its next-generation wireless infrastructure equipment for customers in China.
“This is a great opportunity for Starent to step into the largest telecom market in the world,” said Gennady Sirota, vice president of product management and marketing for Starent.
Under the agreement, Starent will provide its Intelligent Mobile Gateway, a packet-based platform for mobile networks, to Eastcom for its mobile network offerings. Starent said the ST16 IMG addresses customer requirements for carrier-class reliability and availability for maximum uptime, multimedia capabilities for voice and data services, scalability for rapid network growth and mobility for always-on mobile connections.
The same ST16 IMG was selected by Samsung Electronics for integration into its wireless infrastructure offerings.
The first phase of the agreement with Eastcom calls for Starent to provide cdma2000 1x packet infrastructure equipment to Eastcom for high-speed data access to mobile subscribers when China’s CDMA network launches next year. Sirota said the initial equipment will support data features, with voice capabilities added later. Starent also plans to offer a gateway platform for wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) networks in the future.
“Starent Networks has the right vision, allowing wireless carriers to integrate voice and data to offer customized services to their end users,” said Christine Loredo, senior analyst of mobile wireless research at The Strategis Group. “Additionally, wireless carriers can control the user session by means of billing, priority and bandwidth utilization.”
Starent also plans to open a joint design center with Eastcom in Hangzhou, China, to develop features addressing the unique requirements in the Chinese mobile market.
