Europe : : Huawei Technologies has been selected by Telecom Italia to expand and upgrade its HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) networks covering Southern Italy, including important cities such as Palermo, the capital of Sicily.

The expansion will help boost Telecom Italia's network capacity and allow it to rapidly deliver new services to further strengthening its market leadership in Europe.

Huawei will supply its new generation Node B solution to fulfill Telecom Italia's technical requirements. Huawei new generation Node B will support full-performance HSDPA, HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access), and IP RAN (IP-based Radio Access Network). The open architecture of Distributed Node B provides Telecom Italia with more flexible networking to allow it to accelerate the delivery of its HSDPA services and ready for commercial deployment of its HSUPA services.

Upgrading Telecom Italia existing network with Huawei's advanced HSPA solution will allow the Italian operator to provide the best possible end-user experience and reinforce its leading position in the market.

"We are proud to provide HSPA products and solutions to Telecom Italia," added Mr. Qiao Xiaoping, Managing Director of Huawei Technologies Italy. "With our advanced HSPA technologies and fast service response times we hope to help Telecom Italia extend its lead in the dynamic and fast-growing mobile broadband market."

According to In-Stat Market Research, Huawei is the fastest growing WCDMA/UMTS manufacturer with 32.9% market share in terms of new contract wins in 2006. The cooperation with Telecom Italia Mobile will further consolidate Huawei's position as a leader in the global WCDMA/HSPA industry.