GURGAON: UTStarcom, Inc., global provider of wireless and wireline access and IP switching solutions, has announced plans to invest $25 million in its development center at Bangalore in India. The expansion will entail doubling employee strength at the facility to 150 engineers over the next two months.

The Bangalore Development Center will undertake 'core' research and design to support UTStarcom's 2G and 3G CDMA Data, Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) and Personal Communication Management Systems (PCMS) (Unified Messaging) solutions. With the expansion of the facility, approximately 50 percent of global development work relating to these product lines will now be handled in India.

"India is a strategic market for UTStarcom, and our R&D investments in India reiterate our commitment to the country and our customers there," said UTStarcom country manager & director of south Asia operations Ruchir Godura. "The expansion of the Bangalore Development Center raises our aggregate investments in R&D in India to $50 million, with two full-fledged global R&D centers focusing on cutting-edge development work," he added.

"UTStarcom enjoys a dominant position in the global 2G and 3G CDMA data and softswitch arena," said UTStarcom senior VP of engineering Jerry Soloway. "With the quality of manpower available and the expertise we have built up in India, the Bangalore Develop Center will enable us to focus on developing new, innovative technologies in these product areas that will continue to push UTStarcom's ability to compete in the marketplace," he added.

The Bangalore Development Center, which was established by Mascon Global in 2001, came into the UTStarcom Corporation with the May 2003 acquisition of CommWorks, the carrier division of 3Com. This is the second R&D center UTStarcom has in India since the construction of its facility in Gurgaon in 2002. In 2002, UTStarcom announced an investment of $25 million in its global R&D facility at Gurgaon.

(CNS)