The Uzbekistan telecoms market is expanding rapidly, helped by the conversion to digital exchanges which are expected to be completed in 2010. The mobile subscriber based reached 10.8 million in 2008 but is expanding rapidly. This continues the global trend in recent years of developing markets experiencing rapid growth while developed markets approach saturation. Ucell has experienced aggressive growth since its TeliaSonera acquisition and by May 2009, the company’s subscriber base was nearing 4 million.

“The TeliaSonera Ucell 2G/3G project adds to the growing number of world-class operators using ZTE’s UMTS equipment in highly competitive markets,” said Mr. Zeng Li, President of ZTE CIS. “Telstra’s CSL subsidiary in Hong Kong has a ZTE HSPA+ network up and running, and ZTE UMTS equipment has also entered service in European markets such as Romania, Estonia, Turkey and Belarus in the last 12 months.”