Alcatel-Lucent will soon deploy 3G WCDMA networks in 14 Chinese provinces and municipalities.

China Unicom granted Alcatel-Lucent's Chinese subsidiary, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, this contract in which Alcatel-Lucent will provide about 11000 Node B base stations in Hebei, Fujian Guangxi, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Guangdong, Hunan, Shandong and Xinjiang. The financial terms of the deal have not yet been released by either side.

Initial network deployments in the cities and municipalities of Tianjin, Baoding, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Guiyang and Guilin are expected to be completed in May 2009.

According to Alcatel-Lucent, all the equipments supplied are ready to sustain the rapid increase of voice and data traffic and to smoothly evolve towards 3G/HSPA+ and 4G/LTE.