UTStarcom, Inc., the industry leader in the worldwide PAS (Personal Access System) market, recently announced that it has signed an expansion contract valued in excess of $30 million with Shanxi China Netcom.

Under the terms of the contract, UTStarcom will expand and upgrade, existing IP-based PAS (Personal Access System) platforms in 19 county-level cities in the Province.

"This expansion contract is a direct result of strong consumer demand for the PAS solution throughout the Shanxi province and its successful move to the smaller county-level cities where the majority of the population in China lives, said Ying Wu, CEO of UTStarcom China. "In 2003, we have added more than 600,000 subscribers in the Shanxi Province, with 300,000 of those additions in the capital city of Taiyuan. In addition, UTStarcom enjoys over 70% handset market share in the province and all of its networks have standardized on UTStarcom's value-added-services platform, giving us an additional competitive advantage."

UTStarcom's wireless network solutions enable a rapid network expansion and an easy migration from fixed to wireless networks, enabling service providers to offer wireless voice and data services within a city or community. Marketed as a low-cost investment option for wireless local telephone service, the PAS system features advanced voice and data services within a flexible network architecture that can be seamlessly integrated with future next-generation wireless and broadband technologies.