Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom (APBT), viewing that the National Communications Commission (NCC) has not yet approved its proposed procurement of CDMA 2000 EV-DO Rev B core network equipment and base stations from China-based Huawei Technologies, plans to select either Alcatel-Lucent or Ericsson in place of Huawei, according to company CEO Vincent Chih.

If NCC does not approve the proposed procurement by the end of September, APBT will cancel its contract with Huawei and choose between Alcatel Lucent and Ericsson in October, Chih indicated. Then, APBT will speed up establishment of CDMA 2000 EV-DO networks by setting up 1,500-1,600 base stations initially and later expand the network to 2,500, Chih said. The change in supplier will delay the beginning of CDMA 2000 EV-DO operations until the second half of 2012, Chih noted.

APBT has 3.1 million subscribers currently and expects the number to increase to 3.2 million by the end of 2011. The company plans to procure 1.2 million handsets for contract-bundled sale in 2011.