Leading telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. has announced 2006 sales revenue of 65.6 billion yuan, up 45 percent on the previous year.

The rapid growth came mainly abroad, with overseas revenues accounting for 65 percent of the total.

The market is hungry for mobile network products, next generation network ("NGN") products, optical networks, data communications software and applications and internet protocol applications, said the Shenzhen-based company.

Huawei now serves 31 of the world's top 50 operators, including Vodafone, Telefonica, KPN, FT/Orange, Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA ("OTE") and Italia Telecom.

In the area of mobile network infrastructure, Huawei has already won 78 3G contracts, including 47 UMTS-based projects. A total of 16 projects have been implemented in Europe.