China Unicom, operator of China's sole CDMA network, has awarded Motorola Global Telecom Solutions Sector (GTSS) a $10 million contract to build Phase II of its value-added location based services (LBS) network.

Motorola will provide equipment, network support and optimization services. LBS allows China Unicom's subscribers to access a range of location-based information, including nearest public facilities, restaurants and entertainment outlets. It also allows customers to play location-based games.

The contract includes deployment of GPSOne position determining equipment (PDE), which can accurately determine the user's location.

"One of our ambitions is to build a range of value-added services that will help simplify and enhance the lives of our customers, and location based services are a key aspect of our plan," said Zhai Yi Bing, vice general manager of the Value Added Services department of China Unicom. "The stability and ease with which Motorola helped us deploy the core positioning platform of the LBS, and the success we've already seen with that system, made them the obvious choice for Phase II."

Motorola has a global reputation as a leader in CDMA2000 1X technology. It is the largest supplier to China Unicom, and has a long-term business relationship with the operator.

In addition to their collaboration on LBS, the companies also recently announced the deployment of Motorola's JAVA technology-based platform to deliver mobile content to its millions of subscribers in China.

Deployment of LBS services for China Unicom demonstrates Motorola's commitment to help operators improve average revenue per user (ARPU) and encourage revenue-generating data service uptak.

"Now is the time to understand customers' application demands as well as to determine the business model that will carry operators through 3G deployment," said Rueybin Kao, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola GTSS China. "Motorola is an acknowledged leader in providing the cost-effective, value-added solutions that will allow China Unicom to take full advantage of this key learning time while at the same time allowing them to open new revenue streams."