ZTE expects $4 bn business after 3G, WiMax rollout

KOLKATA, INDIA: ZTE Telecom, a provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, expects a business of $4 billion for the telecom vendor industry, which will be generated soon with the likely rollout of 3G, WiMax and other next generation communication services in India.

The company is eyeing about 10-15 percent share out of this market, its chairman cum managing director D.K. Ghosh said here Friday.

The process of auctioning radio frequency spectrum for third generation telephony has already began and would be followed by offering spectrum for WiMax services.

"We have some major plans for India and plan to grow by around 30 percent every year," Ghosh told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference organised by Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM).

The company in 2009-10 achieved a turnover of $8.8 billion, of which 10 percent came from Indian operations.

ZTE also expect to participate in the re-tendering for the controversial project of state-run telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for 93 million GSM connections, which was recently scrapped.

BSNL's tender became controversial after it disqualified vendors like Nokia Siemens, ZTE and Alcatel Lucent after which the government referred the issue to a panel headed by Sam Pitroda.

"We are eagerly awaiting the tender to get cleared and we are hopeful that we won't be disqualified this time," Ghosh said.

The company plans to launch its branded handsets in the next two-three months.

"There will be 10-12 types of handsets for both GSM and CDMA variety," he said.

Initially the company would target 2 million handsets sales, he said.