"The construction of stadiums and transportation systems would bring telecom equipment vendors huge market opportunity,'' said Jenny Wang, vice-president of Motorola Inc.

International tourists, athletics teams and domestic visitors would put heavy pressure on the city's telecom network, she said.

Both the fixed-line and the mobile telecom networks need to be expanded to support hugely increased users.

Motorola is currently the top mobile phone supplier in China with 33.5 percent of the market share. Its semi-conductor products, used in telecom equipment production, are also ranked No 1 here.

China is the biggest overseas market for the US group with 12 percent of Motorola's revenues coming from here.

"China will surpass the US as the world's biggest telecom market by the end of this year,'' said Ruey Bin Kao, vice-president and general manager of Motorola's telecom carrier solution group.

He said China Mobile is already the biggest mobile carrier, with more than 85 million subscribers.

China has the most prosperous mobile phone market in the world. There are around 180 mobile handset models here which is six times the average 30 models in other markets, said Tom Masci, head of Motorola's mobile phone sector.

The Beijing municipal government said on Saturday that it would invest 180 billion yuan (US$21.7 billion) in basic infrastructure with 30 billion flowing into information technology.

Like many other international telecom giants, Motorola is trying to get a slice of the cake.

Lucent, Ericsson and Nokia, the biggest of Motorola's counterparts, are anxiously waiting for government's decision to pick whom will be the service provider for the Olympic Games.

Motorola is the biggest US investor in China with US$3.4 billion accumulated since 1987, when it started business here.

(China Daily 07/19/2001)