China Mobile Wants W-CDMA, Doubts 3G Olympics

China Mobile — the largest mobile operator in China, and the largest in the world by subscriber base — has indicated it would prefer to launch a W-CDMA network rather than a network based on China’s TD-SCDMA standard…and I’m guessing it would have liked to start this network a while ago.
“The Hong Kong newspaper cited Dai Zhong, deputy general manager of China Mobile’s department of networks, as saying the adoption of the TD-SCDMA standard would mean a smaller range of handset availability and higher costs associated with the company’s transition of existing customers to a 3G platform…”We think that W-CDMA is better for China Mobile. TD is a Chinese 3G standard, so we should support this network, but we have the largest GSM network in China,” Dai said.”
Which is the problem facing the Chinese telcos, and to a lesser extent the Chinese government. There are rumors that the TD-SCDMA standard is almost ready, but it has already been leapfrogged by the latest GSM and CDMA standards. The Chinese government can force the telcos to use the home-grown standard, but if the telcos aren’t overly keen there may not be much benefit from that.
Silicon.com has taken a different tack on Dai’s quotes, as he says what most independent observers have been saying all year — the Beijing Olympics may not be 3G. “Zhong Dai…said the company is aware of the need for next-generation coverage in the city for the games but can’t say if it will be provided due to the lack of licences being distributed by the government…”Of course we need the 3G service but the government hasn’t sent the licence”.

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