Alcatel announced that it has been awarded a contract by China Telecom to deploy 1.3 million Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) in southern China. This amount represents 40% of the total bid and makes Alcatel the lead supplier.

The contract was won through Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's flagship Chinese company.

Alcatel will provide its industry-leading Alcatel 7300 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM) to China Telecom's subsidiaries in 15 provinces and municipalities across southern China such as Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, which see a strong demand for high-speed internet access services and high quality broadband applications like IP TV. The 7300 ASAM has the capability to be deployed both as an ATM or IP DSLAM.

Upon completion of the project in September 2004, China Telecom will significantly enhance its network capacity to offer new multimedia applications such as video streaming, broadcast video, video on demand and on-line gaming to end users.

According to CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), China is the fastest growing broadband market in the world with 17 million users as of June 2004. Over 80% of broadband subscribers in China now use DSL.