With the upcoming bidding for
3G handset licenses in China, the government is once again in the spotlight for the 3G standard licensing.
Information Industry vice minister Xi Guohua denied reports that the government was delaying the issuing of 3G licenses to provide the homegrown system an advantage, this according to a report from Xinhua.net. Xi said that the network trial for the domestic standard time division-synchronized code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) is unconnected to the granting of the 3G license and selection of operators for the network.
Other western governments and companies allege the Chinese government of delaying 3G licensing to allow TD-SCDMA to mature enough to be able to compete with foreign standards such as W-
CDMA and CDMA200. Xi, however, argued that the system is already mature and ready for commercial use and that the network trial helps ensure good service in the early period of commercial use.
Xi said the government will give equal opportunity both W-CDMA and CDMA200 despite its support for its own standard. He explained that the government is only tasked to decide on how many 3G licenses will be issued and that it is the operations who will decide on which standard to use.
China Mobile, China Telecom and China Netcom are conducting network trials of TD-SCDMA in 10 cities. The government promised to provide 3G mobile services in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Source: eetasia
