Sell General Manager Of ZTE\'s WiMAX Products

As the WiMAX standard and its industry chain get more and more mature, the WiMAX technology has been gradually changing our life. The WiMAX applications, for example in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Libya, offer users exciting experience. What new WiMAX technologies will be used this year to decrease the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)? What measures will be taken in the field to enable future technical evolution? What impacts will the global financial crisis have on the WiMAX industry? With these questions in mind, ZTE TECHNOLOGIES interviewed Zhao Songpu, General Manager of ZTE's WiMAX product linemobile WiMAX networks were deployed and commercialized; 80 WiMAX vendors dedicated themselves to the R&D and production of WiMAX equipment; over 480 terminals and system equipment were launched; the WiMAX industry chain became stronger and more mature. It is expected that there will be explosive growth of WiMAX this year. ZTE made big achievements in the WiMAX field last year. By November 2008, ZTE had deployed 30 WiMAX networks in more than 20 countries including developing countries in Asia Pacific and Africa, and high-end markets in Europe, Japan and North America. 
As we know, long-term partnership can not be established by one-time communication. In 2008, ZTE also cultivated many potential markets, and had deep communication with many operators. For example, we have passed the Global MSF Interoperability (GMI) test at BT's site and won acknowledgement of BT. In 2009, we hope that more operators will recognize and trust ZTE's products. 
J: What's ZTE's viewpoint concerning the impact of the financial crisis on the WiMAX this year? 
Zhao: In late 2008, we read some news about WiMAX given up by some Western vendors. We regard this as the result of severe market competitions. While many mainstream vendors have been losing profits in the telecom market, ZTE has witnessed continuous growth. Many traditional vendors had to give up new, competitive markets and retain existing, profitable fields. The global financial crisis that broke out last year further accelerated the decline of these vendors. The effects of financial crisis on the market and the weakening of our competitors coexist. For ZTE, we expect both opportunities and challenges this year, and we believe opportunities outweigh challenges. 
A question is: how will the financial crisis influence the demands of end users, as it has caused a decrease of requirements in the marketplace? We can refer to the "potato theory", which has recently become popular in the economy field. According to this theory, consumers will cut back on luxury consumption during this financial crisis; however, they cannot cut back on basic consumption, as they must eat potatoes every day. In the telecom field, mobile voice service is a basic need, and broadband Internet, in both wireless and wireline options, is also a necessity. As the demand for broadband Internet, the "potato", keeps increasing, we believe there will be growing market demands and opportunities, despite the economic recession resulted from the financial storm