Beijing Xinwei Telecom Technology Inc, the core developer of
China's home-grown TD-SCDMA 3G standard, will hold its long-awaited
initial public offering (IPO) in Shenzhen by the end of March, a
source close to the situation said.
"Xinwei Telecom is expected to hold its share offering on the
Shenzhen Stock Exchange by the end of March," said Xiong Yuzhu,
vice-president of WI Harper Group, a venture-capital firm that
invested in Xinwei in 1997.
Xinwei Telecom, founded in 1995, is a joint venture between
Datang Group and US-based Cwill. The company has sole intellectual
property rights for the synchronous code division multiple access
(SCDMA) standard for wireless access service, the core technology
behind China's TD-SCDMA 3G standard.
"We will have a domestic IPO instead of an overseas share
offer," said Li Fang, an official from the company's marketing
department, declining to reveal further details.
Xinwei Telecom is now the main equipment provider for SCDMA
products. The SCDMA technology was selected by China's Ministry of
Information Industry as the preferred solution to provide telephone
services to rural villages.
The SCDMA technology has been deployed by two major carriers,
China Telecom and China Netcom, in 25 provinces and autonomous
regions in China, the company said. Mongolia and Sri Lanka have
also adopted the SCDMA technology to establish a commercial
network.
The Beijing-based company has reportedly been seeking an
overseas listing to finance its expansion since 2004. The company
achieved five-fold growth in sales revenue during 2004 and 2006,
according to its website. Moreover, it had 1 billion yuan in sales
and 200 million yuan in profit in 2005, according to an earlier
report by the 21st Century Business Herald.
Meanwhile, the company has developed a new generation wireless
broadband access standard McWiLL, which is competing with Intel's
WiMax to become China's national standard.
"The IPO may allow Xinwei Telecom to promote its McWiLL," said
Guo Fei, an analyst with Analysys International, a Beijing-based
telecom consultancy.
The Chinese government has been testing different systems for
the potential successor to WiFi, which allows wireless access to
the Internet. WiMax, promoted by Intel, is facing competition from
McWiLL in China since the nation voiced its intention to cultivate
home-grown standards.
It was previously reported that China Netcom, a major fixed-line
operator, had adopted the McWiLL standard for the 2008 Olympic
Games. Moreover, China Mobile began a McWiLL network in Chongqing
Municipality for commercial trial use, while China Netcom did the
same in Guangdong Province.
(China Daily January 18, 2007)