The launch of the new company raises hopes that the third generation of mobile telecommunication (3G) standard will be widely used.

The new joint venture - T3G Technology Co Ltd - was established by Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd, Dutch chip maker Philips Electronics Co and South Korean handset producer Samsung Electronics Co.

It will produce TD-SCDMA chipsets and reference designs for Datang TD-SCDMA 3G mobile standard.

"TD-SCDMA has technical advantages for users such as greater capacity and spectrum efficiency," said Johan Pross, chief executive officer of T3G Technology Co Ltd.

Sources indicated that Datang and Philips will each own about 40 per cent of the new firm. Samsung, the world's third largest handset maker, has a 20 per cent stake.

No exact figure for investment in the joint venture was given at yesterday's press conference.

The joint venture will not make mobile phones, according to Pross.

Instead, it will license its hardware and software designs to handset manufacturers such as its partner, Samsung.

The firm plans to focus on dual mode technologies allowing phones to run on both TD-SCDMA and WCDMA networks, said Pross.

"It's a win-win deal for the three of us," said Tang Ru'an, chief operating officer of Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd.

Using the dual mode handsets, the standard will help telecom operators transfer their networks from the second generation to 3G smoothly and effectively with low cost, he said.

Samsung is likely to be the first handset maker to produce TD-SCDMA phones.

Thierry Laurent, a Philips executive vice-president, said expanded partnerships would promote much-needed competition in the sector and help speed up the development of handsets.

Analysts said they expect the government to award TD-SCDMA a 3G licence later this year or in 2004 along with the more mature standards, CDMA2000 developed by US-based Qualcomm Corp, and the European WCDMA.

In another development. Datang Mobile inked an agreement with Geneva-based STMicroelectronics on Thursday, authorizing STMicroelectronics to develop multi-media and multi-mode system-on-a-chip (SOC) based on TD-SCDMA standard.

(China Daily January 21, 2003)