The China Ministry of Information Industry (MII) approved May 16 the use of European and American 3G mobile phone standards, which rival the homegrown TD-SCDMA, according to a report from Xinhua.net.
Yang Peifang, secretary general of the ministry’s telecommunication economist panel confirmed that all three standards—TD-SCDMA, W-CDMA and CDMA2000—will be used in China. Yang added that the introduction of the other standards would even help improve China’s homegrown 3G standard.
According to analysts, by adding Europe’s WCDMA and the United States’ CDMA 200, the China government has maintained its "technology neutral" stand and opened an open market for different technologies.
However, the country’s 3G development depends primarily on strong demand for mobile data processing functions involving multimedia solutions and internet connections. It’s four major operators—China Netcom, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom—have started training 3G talents, and making technological preparations for a smooth transition from the existing mobile to 3G.
China’s TD-SCDMA has passed a series of tests organized by the ministry last year. A ministry report stated that base stations and handsets based on the homegrown technology are all qualified after three years of tests.
The China government has repeatedly stated that 3G mobile services will be available in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics . While analysts say that the homegrown standard will most likely get the first license, MII vice minister Xi Guohua, said the government will decide on how many 3G licenses will be issued and it will be up to the operators which standard they want to use. (52RD.com) |
