An already crowded North American infrastructure market is set to welcome a new competitor. One of China’s largest telecommunications vendors, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., has provided network equipment for regional wireless operator NTCH Inc.’s launch of wireless services to the border communities of El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz.
The deal with NTCH, which operates under the Clear Talk brand name, is Huawei’s first foray into North America and is seen as a major stepping stone for the company in its attempt to gain a presence in the highly competitive market here.
“North America is a very important market for Huawei, and we appreciate NTCH’s confidence in Huawei’s technology and service capabilities,” said Max Wangcheng, president of Huawei’s North American Region.
Huawei’s CDMA-based network for Clear Talk initially will cover about 358,000 potential customers and include support for 1x-based data and multimedia messaging services and will be the first 1x offering for the wireless operator, which also offers CDMA-based voice services in western Colorado, Idaho and Tennessee. The system will include Huawei’s Airbridge CDMA2000 wireless network including a mobile switching center, base station controller, base transceiver station, home location register, packet data serving node and an undisclosed number of fixed terminals.
NTCH President Glenn Ishihara said he first approached Huawei in 2002 at a trade show and was impressed by the company’s willingness to work with a smaller carrier. Ishihara added that he initially turned down the invitation out of respect for Clear Talk’s original network infrastructure partner Lucent Technologies Inc., but following persistent efforts by Huawei finally agreed to a deal.
“I was really impressed with their persistence and quickly realized that they were serious about helping us expand our operations,” Ishihara said.
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