NEC announced on Thursday, June 9 that it is setting up a joint venture in Wuhan, China with Wuhan Research Institute of Post and Telecommunications (WRI). The joint venture will be called Wuhan Fiberhome Mobile Communication Inc. and will focus on 3G mobile communication infrastructure, such as the development of base stations for 3G mobile services. Initially it will be staffed by 100 employees and it will start with a registered capital of US$15 million. It is expected that WRI will take a 65% stake in the joint venture, NEC will take a 30% stake and that the remaining 5% will be taken by third parties.

 

WRI is one of China's largest manufacturers of fiber-optic communication equipment and indoor telecom base stations. NEC 3G infrastructure business in China will make use of three different channels, which are its joint venture with WRI, its own operations and its joint business with Siemens. NEC is aiming for a 10% share of the Chinese 3G market, with annual sales worth between 30 billion Yen (US$274 million; US$1=109.29 Yen) and 40 billion Yen (US$365 million).