Chinese telecommunications companies may limit investment in
third-generation services for mobile phones to prepare for the
adoption of even faster wireless technologies, ABN Amro Holdings NV
said.
"There isn't a huge business case for 3G," Wendy Liu, ABN Amro's
head of China research, told reporters in Hong Kong yesterday,
Bloomberg News reported. "It makes sense for China to go
directly to 4G as it may offer better returns on investments," she
said.
Chinese carriers may spend about US$20 billion building networks
for 3G services, which allow faster downloads of video and music on
mobile phones, CLSA Ltd Asian telecommunications research head
Francis Cheung said in May. Fourth-generation services offer
download speeds up to 14 times quicker than 3G.
Investments for 4G are not expected to start until 2010, ABN
Amro's Liu said. The technology may allow users to transfer data at
200 megabits per second, according to the Website of Alcatel-Lucent
SA, the world's largest maker of telecommunications equipment.
(Shanghai Daily October 25, 2007)
