cdmaOne Network To Reach 13.3 Million In 200 Chinese Cities This Year

HONG KONG, March 5, 2001 - In a continuing effort to keep with key developments influencing the wireless industry, the CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) reported today that China United Telecommunications, the parent company to the country's second largest mobile telephone company, China Unicom, has publicly announced its plans to spend US$1.81 billion to upgrade its existing cdmaOne network.

During a ceremony held in Beijing over the weekend, Korea's SK Telecom President Pyo Moon-soo and China Unicom's Chairman Yang Xianzu signed an agreement of cooperation in which the two companies will join forces to complete the construction of a commercial network of China Unicom's cdmaOne system ahead of schedule. As the world's first operator to offer commercial 3G services, SK Telecom will provide consulting services to China Unicom to ensure a quick and successful upgrade to a CDMA2000 1X system.

Yang Xianzu, chairman of China Unicom, stated that "By October the company would complete the first phase of its cdmaOne mobile phone network, which will cover 200 cities throughout the country with a network capacity reaching 13.3 million subscribers." (Xinhua News Agency, Feb. 20, 2001)

The commitment by China United Telecommunications to evolve its cdmaOne network falls within China Unicom's plans to expand its capacity by more than 10 million subscribers annually according to demand.

"China is obviously a significant growth area for CDMA," said Perry LaForge, executive director for the CDG. "We are very excited about this most recent investment announcement, and applaud SK Telecom's and China Unicom's cooperation to bring CDMA-based services to market in China in the very near future. The CDG and its member companies are committed to continuing to support the operators in the region."

CDMA technology provides mobile operators and manufacturers the ability to offer a variety of value-added services today, such as wireless Internet and information services. CDMA2000 3G networks have been in commercial operation since October 2000, and are the only 3G networks in service today. In addition, CDMA benefits wireless consumers with industry-leading in-building penetration, longer battery talk and standby time, increased privacy and better security.