Five more cities start TD-SCDMA trials — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Ten Chinese locations running user tests} Five more cities start TD-SCDMA trials

10 Mar 2007 at 16:47 GMT Timo Poropudas

Cellular News on February 12, 2007 reported Wang Lijian, Spokesperson, the Ministry of Information Industry, saying that China has taken its trial networks for a homegrown 3G mobile phone technology to five more cities, increasing the total number of cities that are testing the technology to ten.

Wang reported the testing for TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) would take place in Tianjin and Qinhuangdao in the east, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in the south and Shenyang in northeast. Shanghai, Beijing, northern city of Baoding, southern city of Xiamen and eastern coastal city of Qingdao are already under the trial phase of TD-SCDMA. It is reported that China started to include more end-users in the tests in these five cities in early November 2006.

The ratification that the TD-SCDMA tests are being taken to next stage comes after local media reported China Mobile’s parent company, China Mobile Communications, is planning to roll out 3G services before October 2007 end.

This state-owned enterprise will invest over USD 1.9 billion to construct its TD-SCDMA network in 2007.

China is supposed to be waiting for its locally developed TD-SCDMA technology to pick pace before opening up its 3G market to overseas players. The China government earlier restated that China would issue 3G licenses for operations slated to be launched by the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

According to RNCOS report, “China Telecom Sector Analysis (2006-2007)”, the landscape of 3G is gradually becoming cleared in China. Features of 3G mobiles are extremely beneficial for manufacturers, carriers, and end-users.

Moreover, 3G ranks over the 2G in terms of cost. The cost of 3G services is half of 2G and the price of 3G-enabled mobile handset is just 120% of 2G. With the betterment of network construction, an increased number of 3G subscribers will be able to get access to the market, and in around next 5-6 years, the fraction of 3G subscribers in China will become 40%.