China Telecom and China Network, the country's top 2 fixed-line
telephone operators, kicked off a new round of procurement for
their TD-SCDMA trial network in Baoding City, Hebei Province and Qingdao City, Shandong Province respectively.
At a closed-door meeting over the weekend, the two giants
invited companies to bid, Shanghai-based Oriental Morning
Post reported Tuesday, quoting a source from ZTE
Corporation.
Last year, China Telecom appointed TD Tech Ltd and Datang to
build its trial network in Baoding, while China Netcom chose Datang
and ZTE in Qingdao.
The procurement this time is an expansion of the existing
TD-SCDMA networks. Hundreds of cell sites will be constructed in
each city to keep the majority of the region covered, Mr. Yang Hua,
secretary general of China TD-SCDMA Forum, revealed during an
online chat with Sina.com last week. Datang, TD Tech, and ZTE
remain the major suppliers, but their shares will be decided
through bidding.
"The expansion of the network indicates that TD-SCDMA technology
has matured and will be gradually put into commercialization. The
large-scale test is necessary to check its quality and maintain its
normal operations in the future," Yang commented.
TD-SCDMA is a homegrown technology for the third-generation (3G)
telecommunications, and the China TD-SCDMA Forum was initiated in
December 2000 by eight companies to promote and develop the use of
this technology. Members include China Mobile, China Unicom, China
Telecom, Datang, Huawei, Motorola, Nortel, and Siemens.
The construction of two trial networks in Baoding and Qingdao is
expected to be completed in October this year, as is China Mobile's
network, which just finished bidding in early April.
On March 20, China Mobile announced it would invest 26.7 billion
yuan (about US$3.458 billion) to build TD-SCDMA commercial network
in eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang,
Qinhuangdao, Xiamen, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
ZTE, a Shenzhen-listed telecom equipment maker, became the
largest winner, reaping 3.2 billion yuan (US$414 million) in orders
and 46.78 percent of the shares.
In a statement submitted to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on April
9, ZTE said that it won the bid to provide wireless equipment in
Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Xiamen, and
to provide kernel networks in Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen, and
Qinhuangdao.
Three other consortiums, which were led by Datang Mobile, TD
Tech Ltd, and Putian Corp respectively, claimed 36.68 percent,
13.82 percent, and 2.72 percent stakes in wireless products
respectively.
Mr. Yang Hua said that the TD-SCDMA network will begin
operations in 2008, which fits into the timetable set by the
Ministry of Information Industry stating China will offer 3G
services in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
(China.org.cn by Tang Fuchun, April 19, 2007)