China Unicom plans to launch its first WCDMA network equipment tender within the next seven days and to commence offering WCDMA services in mid-May, a China Unicom source told Interfax on Jan. 12.

"Our technology assessment has been completed and the tender will be opened around a week from now," the source at China Unicom's network planning department, who wished not to be identified, said.

According to the source, WCDMA network equipment for over 200 cities will be purchased during the tender. China Unicom has said that it will focus on purchasing equipment that is energy saving, environmentally friendly and that supports interoperability of the 2G GSM standard with WCDMA.

The source said that China Unicom began assessing the WCDMA technologies offered by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Huawei, ZTE and New Postcom in October 2008. The operator did not release the results until now as it had not obtained the WCDMA license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The source refused to comment on the rumor that MIIT and SACAC (the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission) had required telecom operators to increase the ratio of equipment by domestic manufacturers to foreign manufacturers in their tenders.

"Domestic network equipment vendors have advantages in that they can provide better support services and are less expensive," the source said.

According to the source, China Unicom has drawn up a timetable for its WCDMA services. After the WCDMA equipment tender in January, vendors should supply equipment to China Unicom so the operator can begin network construction in February. Around May 17, China Unicom will release numbers with 185 and 186 prefixes for use with WCDMA, marking the beginning of the commercial operation of the 3G standard in China.

Source:INTERFAX-CHINA