According to a source close to TD-SCDMA (China's 3G mobile
telecommunications standard) Industry Alliance, some "friendly
subscribers" of telecom operators will enter the TD trial network
and receive 3G (third generation mobile communication) services
from October. As the earliest 3G customers in China, they will
witness the last step of commercialization of China's 3G
industry.
The chosen few will be selected from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong
Kong, Qingdao, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and five other cities,
numbering 20,000 in total. It is estimated that the first customers
will enter the network around the middle of October after domestic
tests of TD-SCDMA finish at the end of this month.
3G provides services like taking photos, reading and receiving
emails, downloading movies and music, surfing the internet, sending
and receiving multimedia short messages with cell phones.
Of late, a breakthrough has been made in the optimization of the
TD-SCDMA network. Connectivity has reached 95 percent and problems
related to the system itself and its terminal applications have
been solved.
An insider told the Beijing News Monday at a test site
in Baoding, Hebei Province that among the five TD test
cities, Qingdao, Baoding and Xiamen would be bound to find problems
in establishing a city-wide network while Beijing and Shanghai
tested in LAN and solved the problems found in previous tests.
The network access for customers signals the transformation of
TD trial network from a test network to a para-commercial one and
will set a good base for final commercialization, said the
source.
This view is echoed by Shen Zixin, a telecom analyst with Pday
Research, a domestic telecom consulting institute. "The trial for
20,000 customers is important for TD and the last step for its
commercialization."
Another insider analyzed that the choices among the "friendly
subscribers" showed a PR coup due to the subscribers being from
governmental departments, cooperative clients of operators and
industry insiders. "Some operators and industry insiders were
skeptical on the technological advantages and performance of the
network and terminals." He added.
Yang Hua, secretary-general of TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance Monday
refused to comment.
It is said that to establish a favorable environment for the
development of TD-SCDMA Industry, related departments tone down a
propaganda campaign. From now on, most 3G-related forums or summits
will remain private with industry insiders also keeping quiet.
According to the latest report from Pday Research, TD-SCDMA is
expected to begin business before the end of 2006. In 2007, LANs
will be established in regions like Yangtze River Delta, Pearl
River Delta and the Bohai Rim, the three major economic developed
areas in China. The construction of a national TD-SCDMA network
will be launched in 2008 to be completed in 2009. The network will
then be optimized and see its capacity gradually expand. Moreover,
statistics from Pday Research show that the TD-SCDMA subscribers in
China will number between 2 million to 4.76 million by 2007.
Latest news from the NDRC (National Development and Reform
Commission) shows that the NDRC and the Ministry of Information
Industry reached a consensus to establish the TD-SCDMA trial
network in six partner cities of the Beijing Olympic Games by the
end of 2006, namely Tianjin, Shanghai, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao,
Shenyang and Hong Kong.
(China.org.cn by Li Shen, September 21, 2006)