IBM is First International Provider of e-business Services in China
Major agreement signed with China Telecom to extend e-business capabilities
Beijing (April 13, 1998) – IBM today announced that it has become the first international provider of e-business services in China, extending total e-business technology and applications to strategic sites in the country, as well as announcing major initiatives with China Telecom to jointly develop other technology-based operational solutions for China’s telecommunications industry.
E-business describes the way organizations are reinventing their business models around networked transactions of every kind — among employees, with suppliers and partners, and with customers. This powerful change is made possible by the convergence of telecommunications and information technology.
IBM’s managed network services are now available to customers through China Telecom, allowing international companies to more easily conduct business online by connecting their local offices in China to others around the world. They also allow traveling workers to conveniently access network-based services in China with a local or domestic phone call. These services in China run over a multiprotocol worldwide network, supporting TCP/IP, Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and IPX (Novell) platforms for leased line and remote access dial connections.
Today’s joint announcement specifies that IBM and China Telecom will work together to build e-business solutions tailored for the unique requirements of China’s rapidly developing economy — confirming the importance of telecommunications carriers and information technology (IT) companies to team in order to advance technology competitiveness for an emerging marketplace. The strategic activities in the agreement include e-business applications and infrastructures, such as Certificate Authority and a secure payment gateway.
Leng Rongquan, deputy director of China Telecom, said that IBM and China Telecom have already begun building new e-business pilot projects. One is an e-business system for Hunan Telecom, the first to be based on SET technology. The e-business solution for Hunan Telecom is designed to set up a complete e-business system, which eventually will work towards the building of an inter-city e-business network. Another project is the first electronic shopping center and payment system for Guangdong Telecom, which has been installed, with a payment gateway and Certificate Authority under discussion.
In addition, the China Huicui World Cup ? Web site, developed by China Telecom, is taking the lead to team up Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Sichuan, Hunan, and IBM to provide inter-province ISP and initial e-business services.
Today’s announcement also includes provisions for IBM and China Telecom to work together toward a new customer care and billing system, to manage customer services, fare collection, systems management and networking management. In addition, the two parties agreed to closely cooperate on a number of business and technical exchanges.
Zhang Li Qui, Director General of China Telecom, said, “The first session of the ninth National People’s Congress adopted the motion to set up the Ministry of Information Industry based on the former Ministry of Post (MPT) and Telecommunications and Ministry of Electronic Industry (MEI). This predicts a new era of development for our national IT industry. The cooperation between IBM and China Telecom gives us a launch pad to leverage on one another’s expertise and leadership roles. This cooperation will also contributes to China’s technology competitiveness and economic growth as we move towards the 21st Century.”
Henry Chow, general manager of IBM’s Greater China Group, said: “This cooperation with China Telecom symbolizes IBM’s long-term commitment to China’s development, and enables IBM to contribute its advanced technology, services, vast experience in the telecommunications industry and expertise in e-business toward that development.”
“As it does elsewhere in the world, e-business promises to dramatically enhance China’s telecommunications, economic, and information technology development,” said Gary Cohen, general manager of IBM’s Telecommunications and Media industry group in Asia Pacific. “IBM already works with most of the leading telecommunications companies in the world, and so it is very appropriate that this include China Telecom.”
Source: IBM