Beijing, Aug 28: French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel said on Wednesday it would invest $100m in research and development in China this year, a significant portion of which would be dedicated to 3G research. “Alcatel announced today that R&D in 3G will constitute a significant portion of the $100m R&D investment in China,” the company said. The firm said it would invest another $45m in 3G infrastructure and application development in China.
“This substantial commitment will further strengthen R&D localisation and the 3G Reality Centre to support China’s 3G development,” it said. The announcement followed one by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo on Tuesday that it would set up a research centre in Beijing for the development of advanced wireless technology to be capitalised at $5.3m.
Alcatel has been positioning itself to snare some of the billions of dollars in contracts likely to be awarded as China builds next-generation networks that allow users to surf the Internet at high speeds and download video and audio. Bureau Report