Guangdong Netcom, which is designated by China Netcom as one of the sites for WiMAX trials, has signed WiMAX equipment purchase contracts with two unnamed equipment suppliers.

The total value of the two contracts is estimated to reach CNY280 million.

Of the total amount, Guangdong Netcom plans to invest up to CNY100 million on WiMAX wireless network equipment and the rest on background network equipment outsourcing.

Guangdong Netcom has worked out a step-by-step strategy for WiMAX construction which is expected to be completed by the end of this year and to finally deploy WiMAX to all cities in the province.

Guangdong Netcom has a clear positioning for the WiMAX network, targeting it at low-end enterprise users and high-end individual users. This is mainly because of the limited frequency resource on which WiMAX equipment is based.

Local media also reports that apart from Guangdong Province, China Netcom will also start WiMAX tests in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai where the testing scale is said to be larger than that of Guangdong Netcom.