China Mobile Communications Corp (CMCC), parent of Hong
Kong-listed China Mobile Ltd, is expected to soon invite bids for a
new round of network trials on the Chinese standard for third
generation (3G) mobile communication, according to industry
sources.
"CMCC has already contacted equipment manufacturers to build
TD-SCDMA networks in five cities," said a source with a TD-SCDMA
equipment vendor.
The TD-SCDMA standard was in part developed by the Chinese
Academy of Telecommunications Technology in an effort to employ
home-grown technology.
"The bidding process will start after the Spring Festival
holiday (February 18) at the earliest," the vendor said.
The five cities scheduled to use the new standard are Guangzhou,
Shenzhen, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao and Shenyang. All the five networks
will be built by CMCC.
CMCC is already testing the home-grown TD-SCDMA standard in
Xiamen, while fixed-line carrier China Telecom operates trial
TD-SCDMA networks in Shanghai and Baoding. No 2 fixed-line
telephone operator China Netcom is testing the technology in
Qingdao and Beijing.
The expansion of trial networks to five more cities underlines a
growing possibility that China Mobile may adopt TD-SCDMA to run its
future 3G networks.
China Mobile, the country's dominant mobile operator, has
publicly stated its preference for WCDMA, which is prevalent in
Europe. TD-SCDMA is an alternative technology to WCDMA and CDMA
2000, which are popular in Japan and South Korea.
Compared to its two rival foreign standards, TD-SCDMA is
considered less mature, something the government would like to
improve, hoping the strongest domestic operator will use a 3G
network based on the Chinese standard to ensure its success.
China Mobile and China Telecom are widely regarded as the two
candidates to run TD-SCDMA commercial networks.
Tao Xiongqiang, vice-president of Potevio, previously known as
Putian, a domestic telecom equipment maker, confirmed CMCC could
soon expand its TD-SCDMA trial networks to include five more
cities.
Potevio and Nokia have formed a joint venture to develop and
manufacture network equipment based on both the WCDMA and TD-SCDMA
standards.
Some sources predicted China Mobile could start building the new
trial networks in March. CMCC was not available for comment.
China Mobile's increasing TD-SCDMA push could bode badly for
vendors backing foreign standards, as the firm controls about 70
percent of the country's mobile phone subscription base.
Huawei Technologies, the top Chinese telecom equipment maker,
could be dealt a heavy blow as the firm has invested more that 4
billion yuan in developing WCDMA technology.
Manufacturers and technology vendors have been anticipating a
windfall from the development of 3G networks that could mean
purchase orders worth tens of billions of US dollars. But now that
number might be much smaller than expected.
Out of the five new cities selected to build TD-SCDMA networks,
three are related to the 2008 Olympics. Besides Beijing, some
events will be held in Tianjin, Qinghuangdao, Shenyang, Qingdao,
Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Some industry observers think that 3G services might be
available only in Olympic-related cities, in addition to Guangzhou
and Shenzhen, where mobile phone users have greater data demands
for advanced telecom service.
(China Daily January 31, 2007)