BEIJING, June 17 -- IBM yesterday opened a telecom solutions center in Beijing and also released solutions for China's telecom industry and carriers.

    The US software giant also inaugurated the Telecommunications Premier Partner Program, an initiative that will offer free education, workshops, software and related services, as well as go-to-market support for IBM's local partners.

    The solutions center will serve as a platform to connect telecom carriers and service developers, said Matt Wang, vice-president, China Development Labs, IBM.

    The center is expected to accelerate telecom solution development and streamline product delivery to help Chinese telecom service providers run more effectively, the company said in a statement.

    "The center allows our clients to experience the latest industry-specific solutions focused on the business processes, networks and applications needed to support the creation and delivery of next-generation telecom services," Wang said.

    The center will be located in IBM's China Development Labs in Beijing.     

    Aided by the launch of the 3G services, China's telecom industry is still growing robustly this year amid the economic downturn.

    The country had 678 million cell phone users by the end of March, the world's biggest, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the industry regulator.

    The country's telecom industry chalked up 795.1 billion yuan revenue in the first four months of this year, up 11.3 percent from a year earlier, MIIT figures showed.

    By last month, all three telecom carriers in the country launched their 3G services, which are expected to generate a total of 1 trillion yuan investment over three years.

    Of this around 200 billion yuan would be spent on video and other 3G services, said Xi Guohua, vice-minister, MITT, at an industry forum last month.

    "By supporting China's telecommunications service providers in innovation efforts, we have established a leadership position in the industry," said Bete Demeke, vice-president, Software Group, IBM Greater China Region.

    The opening of the telecom solutions center comes less than one week after IBM established a rail innovation center in Beijing.

    The Global Rail Innovation Centre, which opened in Beijing last week, will collaborate with China's Ministry of Railways on projects such as system optimization and digital video surveillance, cashing in on the country's massive railroad building boom.

    The railway investment over the next two years in China could account for more than half of the world's total railway equipment market, according to consultancy firm McKinsey & Co.

    (Source: China Daily)