China's No. 2 telecom equipment maker, ZTE Corp., said Tuesday it had begun production at a factory in India, following its recent announcement of a major contract in the country.

The factory, located in the northern state of Haryana, occupies about 4,000 square meters, and has annual capacity to build equipment to handle up to 3 million lines of traffic based on the CDMA standard.

The facility will also eventually have capability to produce equipment based on the GSM standard popular in Europe, as well as DSL broadband equipment and mobile phone handsets.

In December 2004, ZTE said it won an order worth more than US$22 million to supply broadband equipment to privately-owned Indian telecom and media firm Atlas Interactive India Ltd.

It said equipment provided in the deal would be used for broadband service around India’s capital, New Delhi.

Shenzhen-based ZTE, which lists shares in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and its chief domestic rival, Huawei Technologies, have both embarked on major export campaigns over the last two years as they look outside their home market for new growth opportunities.

Both typically compete on the international stage by offering lower prices than major multinationals such as Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola.

Huawei has made some initial inroads into Western markets like France and Holland, but ZTE has been largely limited to date to less developed areas.

(Shenzhen Daily March 30, 2005)