Although worth less than US$5 million -- as it did not call for equipment purhcases -- the deal might give Beijing-based AsiaInfo a leg up in winning future deals from China Railcom, which is expected to continue improving its networks, a spokeswoman said.

"We definitely believe their networks will become more mature and that will give us the opportunity to cross-sell our high-end solutions,'' spokewoman Stella Lau said.

Railcom, China's newest industry player, is 51 percent owned by the Ministry of Railways.

AsiaInfo helps telecommunications carriers build networks and makes software for billing and applications such as mobile messaging and broadband Internet.

Shares in AsiaInfo, which said last month its profits in the fourth quarter rose more than fourfold to US$4.3 million, had climbed 7.26 percent on Thursday to US$12.11.

But the stock had fallen hard from its January 8 close of US$23.02 -- its highest close in a year.

( February 9, 2002)