China Telecommunications Corp. (China Telecom) announced on Oct. 25 that it plans to launch combined CDMA and Wi-Fi services in the first quarter of 2009.

Zhang Xin, deputy general manager of China Telecom's household customer business unit, told a press conference that the combined service will allow customers to use various technologies, including mobile phones, computers, PDAs and digital TV, to communicate with each other through the company's CDMA and Wi-Fi networks.

By using China Telecom's Wi-Fi network, users of CDMA/Wi-Fi dual-mode mobile handsets will be able to make phone calls and send SMS messages free of charge to other devices over the Internet. Outside the Wi-Fi network, such users can communicate through the operator's CDMA network, Zhang said.

The company has already built a Wi-Fi network that covers locations in 21 provinces, and will continue to expand the network to cover 25,000 access points by the end of the year, according to Zhang.

Industry experts estimate that the company will create over 100,000 access points in 30 Chinese cities by the first quarter of 2009.
China Telecom has already invested RMB 200 million ($29.21 million) in its Wi-Fi network.

Source:INTERFAX