Legend Holdings Ltd., China’s largest PC maker, has teamed up with China Telecommunications Corp. (China Telecom) to develop collaborative applications and promote broadband Internet access for Chinese PC users.
Under the agreement with China Telecom, Legend will preinstall software to connect PCs sold by Legend with China Telecom’s China Vnet asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL ) service and the two companies will work together to develop collaborative applications for broadband networks, according to a Legend statement.
The deal also calls for Sunny Information Technology Service Inc., Legend’s service support subsidiary, to enter into an agreement to provide customer service for China Telecom’s broadband offerings, it said. Legend’s collaborating applications technology, which allows content and resources to be shared and managed over a network of PCs and other devices, including consumer electronics and home appliances, was first announced in December 2002.
The technology, with which video downloaded to a PC over the Internet can be viewed on a television, for example, has since been integrated into Legend’s Kaitian II commercial PC and Tianjiao Avantia home PC lines. The technology is also being built into other PCs as well as mobile phones and computer peripherals manufactured by Legend and sold under the Lenovo brand, the company said.
To participate in the development of collaborative applications, China Telecom will join the Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing (IGRS) Working Group, a standards group established by China’s Ministry of Information Industry, Legend and four other Chinese companies to develop ways to share content and resources across a range of networked devices, the statement said. IGRS currently has 15 member companies with a further 11 companies that have submitted membership applications, it said.
The deal with China Telecom will help Legend promote its collaborating applications technology, said Feon Lee, a spokeswoman for the company in Hong Kong.
“It’s beneficial for us to have a telecom provider that can offer broadband access,” Lee said.
The agreement will also help China Telecom to promote broadband services to Chinese Internet users, who are demanding a wider range of services from telecommunications providers, the statement said.
China Telecom has seen demand for broadband services rise quickly over the last two years, the statement said. The company had more than 7.5 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2003, it said.
Financial terms of the deal between the two companies were not disclosed.
