Huawei Technologies Co has established a submarine telecommunications joint venture with UK-based Global Marine Systems to penetrate into the US$2 billion market annually, China's biggest private telecommunication equipment maker said yesterday.

Huawei, which defined itself as "a new entrant" in a statement, will challenge rivals in the submarine telecommunication market such as Alcatel-Lucent, industry insiders said.

The JV, called Huawei Submarine Networks Ltd, is scheduled to be launched in early 2008 but both sides didn't provide financial details of the deal.

Huawei Submarine will deliver end-to-end submarine network equipment and related services, which enables communications capabilities on a global scale, according to the statement.

"Huawei Submarine is a major focus for both companies and introduces a competitive new entrant into the submarine telecommunication market," Gabriel Ruhan, chief executive of Global Marine, said in a statement.

The new firm has combined Huawei's expertise as the fastest growing vendor in optical networks in 2006 with Global Marine's 150 years of market-leading experience in submarine engineering, both sides said.

Huawei's revenue was US$11 billion in 2006 and 65 percent came from overseas markets.

The global switch to all-IP (Internet Protocol) networks and explosive global growth in bandwidth requirements was driving resurgence in telecommunications in certain geographic regions.

Global spending on this type of infrastructure will hit US$2 billion annually over the next five years, analysts estimated.

Rivals include Alcatel-Lucent with 40 percent market shares, NEC and Tyco.

(Shanghai Daily December 14, 2007)