–Projects to Provide Data Services to Remote Rural Areas–
–UT Products are Key Component of Massive Service Provisioning–
–Showcase Example Projects for Digital India Programme–
HONG KONG, Jan. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — UTStarcom (“UT” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ:UTSI), a global telecommunications infrastructure provider, today announced two significant Wi-Fi project wins in India with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (“BSNL”), a large public sector company that provides a comprehensive range of telecom services in India. BSNL is one of the Company’s major customers in the region.
Internet Connectivity for Over 1,000 Village clusters Across 7 States
UTStarcom is assisting BSNL in providing high-speed data services to over 1,000 remote village clusters in Northern and North Eastern India. Using a combination of satellite links and Wi-Fi hotspots mainly powered by solar, hundreds of thousands of residents will soon have modern broadband internet access. This project is one of the first to bring modern telecom infrastructure to remote locations and is a showcase example for developing the government’s “Digital India Program”.
UTStarcom will provide all of the Wi-Fi equipment for the project, including Wireless Access Points, Power over Ethernet (PoE) Switches, Wireless Controllers and other related components and services.
Large-scale Rural Public Wi-Fi Hotspot Network
Through the partnership with ITI Limited, a government-owned manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in India, UTStarcom is also assisting BSNL in implementing a massive public hotspot network in rural India. Utilizing their existing network of rural telephone exchanges, BSNL will install 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across wide areas of rural India. The network is designed to provide inexpensive data services to the rural population in underserved regions and is another showcase project for implementing Digital India.
Wi-Fi equipment will be supplied by several vendors, including UTStarcom. UT will again provide Wireless Access Points, Power over Ethernet (PoE) Switches, Wireless Controllers and other related components and services.
UTStarcom Chief Executive Officer Mr. Tim Ti commented, “These project wins demonstrate our technology leadership and strong competitive advantage in wireless networking. Our partnership with BSNL as they implement these types of projects makes India a very attractive market for us. We have made significant investments in the region, compiling a great track record of assisting our customers in achieving their objectives. We have a strong team in India and our products and services continue to help our customers meet evolving technical requirements in a cost-effective manner.”
Mr. Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman & Managing Director of BSNL, commented, “As one of the leading telecom service providers in India, BSNL is also involved in the implementation of various Government initiatives to drive Digital India progress, thus helping to make access to modern telecommunications services available to citizens across India. Providing Wi-Fi services in rural areas, remote locations and across tough terrains are just few of such initiatives. Naturally, such projects are sensitive and require from us and our partners the highest level of responsibility in order to meet technical and timeframe requirements. Based on our long-term experience with UTStarcom, we see the company as a reliable technology partner in this type of project.”
Highlighting the strategic partnership with UTStarcom, Shri Alagesan, Chairman & Managing Director of ITI Limited, commented, “As a global telecom infrastructure provider, UTStarcom focuses on delivering carrier-class broadband transport and access products and solutions. Our partnership with UTStarcom aims at the supply, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots in the rural telephone exchanges of BSNL on a turnkey basis. This project is under execution in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab with the WLC at Pune, and is expected to be completed by the end of January 2019.”
About UTStarcom Holdings Corp.
UTStarcom is committed to helping network operators offer their customers the most innovative, reliable and cost-effective communication services. UTStarcom offers high performance advanced equipment optimized for the most rapidly growing network functions, such as mobile backhaul, metro aggregation and broadband access. UTStarcom is further leveraging its technology expertise to bring smart networked products to new applications, such as its goBox automated refrigerated dispenser for retail stores. Based in Hangzhou China, UTStarcom has operations and customers around the world, with a special focus on Japan and India. UTStarcom was founded in 1991 and listed its shares on the Nasdaq Market in 2000 (symbol: UTSI). For more information about UTStarcom, please visit http://www.utstar.com.
About BSNL
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. was incorporated on 15th September 2000. It took over the business of providing of telecom services and network management from the erstwhile Central Government Departments of Telecom Services (DTS) and Telecom Operations (DTO), with effect from October 1st 2000 on going concern basis. It is one of the largest & leading public sector units providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India. BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country and now focusing on improving it, expanding the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT applications in villages and winning customer’s confidence. BSNL is one of major service providers in its license area. The company offers wide ranging and most transparent tariff schemes designed to suit every customer. BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP infrastructure that provides convergent services like voice, data and video through the same Backbone and Broadband Access Network. The company has vast experience in planning, installation, network integration and maintenance of switching and transmission networks and also has a world class ISO 9000 certified Telecom Training Institute.
About ITI Limited
ITI Limited is a public sector undertaking in the telecommunications technology segment. The company has manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru, Naini, Rae Bareli, Mankapur and Palakkad along with an R&D centre in Bengaluru and 8 regional offices in India, which were located at Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and New Delhi as well as 17 area offices spread across the country. ITI a diverse suite of products including defense security encryption products; optical and data network products and passive infrastructure products such as gigabit passive optical network and manage leased line products; multi-capacity encryption units, electrical products such as smart energy meters, smart cards, solar panels, set-top boxes and mini personal computers and Internet of Things products. Besides offering the telecom solutions and customized support, ITI has dedicated a Network System Unit for executing turnkey projects for installation and commissioning of telecommunication networks. The company intends to upgrade and invest in the technology, through the acquisition of technology from strategic partners with a specific focus on high growth industry segments. The company operates a data centre at Bengaluru and currently also offers its services to government institutions/departments, banks etc..
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Ms. Ning Jiang, Investor Relations
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In the United States:
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