TMCnet News
Carriers Flock into 3G Pre-commercial Networks(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)BEIJING, Jan 09, 2006 (SinoCast China IT Watch via COMTEX) --It's time for China to issue third-generation (3G) telecom licenses, Xi Guohua, vice minister of the Ministry of Information Industry of China said on December 26. At the present, China is adding about 5 million new mobile phone subscribers every month. Unless 3G licenses are issued soon, there will be a huge waste for consumers and telecom carriers as their mobile phones and equipment will be outdated, Xi said in Beijing. Chinese telecoms carriers are expected to start building pre-commercial 3G (third generation) mobile networks soon, based on the home-grown technology standard TD-SCDMA. The pre-commercial networks will likely be a major boost for TD-SCDMA development, which is playing catch-up with rival foreign standards WCDMA and CDMA 2000. The 3G networks provide faster service and combine both phone and online functions. Work on the networks is expected to begin at the end of this month at the earliest, said Tao Xiongqiang, vice-president of State-owned telecoms equipment maker China Putian Corp. Regulators have not yet decided which carriers will be allowed to build the pre-commercial networks, he indicated. "Regulators are still discussing with carriers about the planning of the network build-up," Tao said. "It's more likely that more than one carrier will build the pre-commercial network." Rumors have been swirling that fixed-line incumbent China Telecom will get the country's first 3G license, based on the TD-SCDMA standard, to build 3G networks. Industry observers expect the regulators to give China Telecom some preferential policies and financial aid to speed up the maturity of TD-SCDMA. If China Telecom secures the nod to solely build the pre- commercial TD-SCDMA network, it could increase the possibility that the fixed-line will get 3G license first. Tao expects the build-up of a per-commercial TD-SCDMA network to last at least three months. If the test of the pre-commercial network is successful, that could greatly speed up the development of TD-SCDMA as well as the licensing process. Telecoms equipment makers have been eagerly awaiting the licensing, which could unleash big purchase orders. A nationwide 3G network is expected to cost at least CNY 200 billion and China is expected to build three nationwide networks based on TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and CDMA 2000. Tao was reluctant to predict the timing of the 3G licensing, but some industry executives and analysts expect it to happen in the second half of this year. "The licensing process has become too complicated, due to a number of factors such as a possible restructuring of the domestic telecoms industry and involvement of a number of government agencies," said Tao. China's 3G equipment market will reach CNY 60 billion annually in 2006, and second-generation equipment will be phased out of the market by 2010, according to earlier reports. It is possible for the Chinese Government may adopt TD- SCDMA to build up main networks in major cities, with WCDMA networks as supplement in small and mid-sized cities around the country, industry experts predicts. The CDMA2000, which is one of the three global 3G standards along with TD-SCDMA and WCDMA, is likely to lose ground in China, as the Chinese government is leaning to WCDMA and the homegrown TD-SCDMA, said some Chinese sources on August 31, 2004. From 21st Century Economic Herald, Page 1, Friday, January 06, 2006 [email protected] |