In a move that positions it to be a major player in an emerging market, Nokia reaffirmed its commitment to the Chinese 3G standard.

At the Mobile Asia Congress Tuesday, the cell phone manufacturing giant said it was developing Symbian S60 handsets that would work with time division synchronous code division multiple access, commonly known as TD-SCDMA. The company said it expects products to hit the shelves before the end of 2009.

"Nokia firmly supports the development of TD-SCDMA," said Colin Giles, president of Nokia China, in a statement. "Our goal is to not only develop TD-SCDMA products that can deliver outstanding user experiences to consumers, but also to work with operators, chipset providers, developers, and all parties along the value chain to support the creation of a vibrant TD-SCDMA ecosystem in China."
Many cell phone manufacturers see the Chinese mobile market as a lucrative opportunity because of the overall number of people and the rapid adoption rate. China Mobile is already the world's largest cell phone operator, with more than 600 million users, and the country still has room for growth.

Most of the subscribers currently use entry-level handsets for voice and text communication, but these customers are quickly upgrading to more sophisticated devices capable of Web browsing, multimedia, and other services. The rolling out of mobile broadband networks is expected to spur this trend.

The Chinese telecoms are busy setting up 3G networks throughout the country, and the homegrown TD-SCDMA standard is expected to be forced on companies when the government awards more 3G licenses. China Mobile is expected to soon have its mobile broadband network expanded to 28 cities.

"Symbian OS is a mature and leading global mobile device platform, and we believe that the Nokia TD-SCDMA device will enhance our application offerings and user experiences," Wang Jianzhou, CEO of China Mobile, said in a statement. "We look forward to working together with Nokia to further drive TD-SCDMA development in China."

Source:informationweek