ASIA : The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), one of the two largest state-owned telecom carriers in Thailand, today officially announced that Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has been awarded its nationwide CDMA2000 3G expansion network bid.

Inset is Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - chairman for the bidding process.

The letter of intent (LOI) has been issued to Huawei Technologies in Thailand, and the contract, which is worth THB7.2 billion (approximately US$187 million), will be signed next month.

In the project, Huawei Technologies, China's largest telecoms equipment supplier, will provide CDMA2000 1x & 1x EV-DO products and solutions in 51 of the 76 provinces in Thailand. Within the turn-key project, Huawei will also provide products in the areas of transmission, service & software and data communications. The project is Huawei's another big breakthrough in the global 3G market, closely following its winning of UMTS 3G contract in the Netherlands and CDMA2000 contract in USA.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, chaired CAT's electronic auction bidding, along with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Surapong Suebwonglee. The board members of CAT and representatives of the US, Swedish and Chinese embassies plus many international and local media witnessed the bidding process.

Currently, Huawei's CDMA2000 products have been deployed in more than 50 countries by over 70 carriers, including developed markets of Portugal and the United States, and have been serving 17 million users across the globe. With its rapid growth in the CDMA field, Huawei Technologies has become one of the major CDMA suppliers in the world.

As one of the two largest state-owned operators in Thailand, CAT was founded on February 25, 1977. 100% State holdings, CAT mainly deals with international toll service and transfer network across the whole country. So far CAT has become the largest international telephony operator in Thailand, engaged in services of data, satellite communication and CDMA. On August 1st, 2003, CAT separated its postal services from telecom services, establishing Thai Post and CAT Telecom. CAT Telecom has a staff of 6000, and is planning to be listed on Stock market in 2005.