The Chinese telecom equipment giant ZTE has signed an exclusive contract with the Mauritanian telecom operator Chinguitel to build the first 2.5 GHz mobile WiMAX commercial network in the country, which is also the first major WiMAX commercial network across the entire African continent.

According to the contract, ZTE will provide core network equipment, wireless access equipment and various communication terminal devices for indoor and outdoor use. Neither ZTE nor Chinguitel have divulged the financials detail of the contract.

Chinguitel, a subsidiary of Expresso Telecom Group in Mauritania, is preparing to establish a CDMA and WiMAX integrated network infrastructure in Mauritania and extend this project to other African countries.

Xu Shengfei, chief representative of ZTE Mauritania, says that it is the company's honor to assist the ETG Group in building the first WiMAX commercial network in Africa. This is the first time for ZTE to cooperate with the ETG Group to jointly construct a WiMAX network and the exclusive contract represents ZTE's leading global position in providing WiMAX solutions. With this deployment, the company hopes it will bring more WiMAX network construction opportunities in other African countries.