Sierra Wireless announced recently a distribution agreement with Putian Eastern Communications Group Co., Ltd. (Eastcom) in China for the AirCard 555 wireless PC Card.

Sierra Wireless continues to expand its presence in China, and across Asia Pacific through strategic relationships previously announced in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand. Eastcom, the largest listed mobile provider in China, selected the AirCard 555 for distribution in this market to provide its customers with a faster wireless data experience. The AirCard 555 is the first wireless wide area PC card available through Eastcom and now operates over China Unicom's CDMA2000 1X network.

Eastcom will bundle the Sierra Wireless AirCard 555 with China Unicom's data service and provide wireless solutions to enterprise customers and mobile professionals. The offering will provide fast wireless connectivity for end users who travel and work away from the office while operating over China Unicom's high-speed cellular network.

The AirCard 555 is a high-speed wireless wide area network (WWAN) card that provides mobile professionals using laptops and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) the freedom and mobility to stay connected while working remotely. About the size of a credit card, the AirCard 555 is a complete communications solution that offers both wireless data and voice functionality. When inserted into a PC Card slot on a mobile computing device, users can wirelessly access email, corporate applications, and the Internet at speeds up to 153.6 kbps.