China is gearing up for a broadband revolution after its dominant telco signed a deal with Alcatel that will enable it to supply 130 million DSL lines.

Alcatel announced today it had entered into an agreement with China Telecom, China's largest teleco and service provider, to deploy jointly DSL across the country.

Chang Xiaobing, VP of China Telecom said in a statement: "I am sure that this will be inspiring news to all Internet users, who are continuously asking for higher speed and broadband services.

"By working this way, operators like China Telecom will be able to provide to end-users a wide range of broadband services in a cost-effective way," he said.

In 1999 China had 8.9 million Net users. By the end of 2000 it had jumped to 22.5 million. It is this massive take-up that China Telecom claims has created the demand for high-speed access and broadband services.

Earlier this month Alcatel announced a deal with Cyprus' national telecommunications service provider, CYTA, to supply 5,000 ADSL lines by April. ®

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