David Gross, US coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy at the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, agreed yesterday that telecom carriers should be free to choose the third generation (3G) of wireless standard based on the marketplace.

"In a competitive market, different carriers could choose different technologies," he told reporters yesterday in Beijing.

Gross was in Beijing on a two-day visit to meet with his Chinese counterparts from the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and officials from other government sectors to discuss telecom-related issues.

Analysts believe Gross was lobbying the Chinese Government to adopt US-based CDMA (code division multiple access) 2000 technologies when deploying its 3G networks, which are widely predicted to be rolled out late this year.

In fact, Gross' views were echoed by the MII's vice-minister Lou Qinjian: "Domestic telecom operators are allowed to choose whatever standards they like to roll out their development strategies."

However, the Chinese Government reiterated many times that it will remain cautious about the issue of 3G licenses despite the surging outcry from telecom operators and equipment providers.

"We will keep a close eye on the maturity of 3G technologies and market to work out a right policy," Lou said in an interview.

Services are expected to start eight to 12 months after the licenses are awarded.

Sources close to the MII said a suggestion has already been sent to the State Development Reform Commission and the ministry, but a final decision has yet to be made.

Analysts believe China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier, will build a 3G system on the WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) standard, which is based on the GSM technology popular in Europe, while China Unicom will probably build a system based on the CDMA 2000 standard developed by Qualcomm Inc of the United States.

(China Daily September 3, 2004)