UTStarcom (UTSI) announced that the company has signed a contract to deliver an initial shipment of 250,000 units of its C1160 CDMA1x handset to China Unicom.

The new contract is part of a larger frame agreement to supply handsets to China Unicom, the second largest CDMA operator in the world with more than 30 million subscribers overall.

Designed and manufactured by UTStarcom, the C1160 is an affordable 800MHz CDMA1x handset with an elegant, clam-shell design and a 1.3" DSTN LCD screen. Features include 12-note polyphonic ring tones, SMS predictive text capability and removable user identity module (R-UIM), which is designed to enable users to transition phone directories and other personal data when upgrading handsets without the need for additional programming. UTStarcom's C1160 handset has a long battery life with a three-hour talk time and more than 100 hours of standby time.