Qualcomm to boost CDMA technology in China
By Sunray Liu
EE Times
(12/28/99, 3:18 p.m. EDT)
BEIJING Qualcomm Inc. is launching an effort here to help Chinese OEMs produce code division multiple
access (CDMA) handsets and basestations for the local and global markets. The move comes as Chinese
CDMA network operators slash prices on competing GSM networks.
China established four CDMA trial networks here and in Shanghai, Xian and Guangzhou. Officials with the
Chinese Ministry of Information Industry judged the networks a success, prompting the government to sign
large equipment contracts with Motorola Co. and Lucent Technologies last April during a China-U.S. telecom
summit.
Qualcomm (San Diego) has since moved to expand its presence here, opening an office two months ago
that has introduced Chinese OEMs to its CDMA chip set, software, reference designs and development
tools. Qualcomm plans to expand the office by hiring more engineers and marketing staff.
The CDMA expansion plan was slowed by the U.S. bombing of a Chinese embassy in April. At the same
time, local users tended to opt for GSM services since GSM permitted nationwide roaming and provided
more service options. On Dec. 1, however, Beijing Great Wall Telecom, a CDMA operator here lowered its
prices for the service, and demand quickly surged.
The result is that more customers are being drawn to the service as network operators, system suppliers
and OEMs restart their CDMA projects. OEMS that had been producing GSM handsets under government
license now have another opportunity to reach the local and overseas markets, observers said.
"Our mission is to provide key technologies [needed to] make handsets and basestations work for CDMA,"
said Johan Lodenius, a Qualcomm vice president. "We'd like to work very closely with Chinese
manufacturers to enable the Chinese industry to be a major force for developing CDMA equipment."
Unlike some of the GSM giants, Qualcomm is preparing to offer its latest technologies to Chinese OEMs. In
addition to its widely adopted MSM3000 chip set, Qualcomm is scouting OEM customers here for a
next-generation MSM3100 IS-95B chip set. The new chip set permits production of lightweight handsets that
provide 300 hours of standby time.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm promises to help OEMs design and produce handset and basestations. Roughly 25
of Qualcomm's 29 CDMA customers are located in Asia. With Qualcomm's help, Hitachi Ltd. is said to have
shipped its CDMA handsets within six months.
Data communications services are emerging as a profitable business in China for wireless carriers, handset
makers, content providers and component vendors, such as LCD panel makers. China Mobile Telecom
recently said it plans to open a wireless Web-browsing service on its GSM network next year based on the
wireless application protocol.
Demand for higher-capacity voice and data traffic is expected to boost CDMA services in China as well.
Wireless Internet services are expected to help CDMA attract more subscribers and handset users.
Qualcomm is offering a 64-kbit/second data rate, as has been operating on Korean and Japanese networks.
OEMs are expected to upgrade the scalable design to 2.4 Mbits/s using pin-compatible chips.
An industry source said Chinese designers from different industries have expressed interest in CDMA's data
communications features. Qualcomm hopes to cooperate with designers on applications with high-speed
wireless capabilities, such as MP3 players, MPEG-4 devices, handheld PCs and PDAs.
Qualcomm executives said they are looking for Chinese partners that are willing to commit to CDMA for the
Chinese market. Partners would tap Qualcomm's CDMA reference design to devise products with specific
feature sets for various Chinese market segments. The U.S. company thus hopes to amass sufficient OEM
support to take on GSM suppliers in a range of market segments.
"I'm fully convinced that China will become a very significant CDMA market and that Chinese producers will
become world-class manufacturers not only in the domestic market but also in the world-wide market,"
Lodenius said. "We have some relationships already established." The company will announce Chinese
partners soon, he added.
China's domestic third-generation wireless standard, TD-SCDMA, is a CDMA technology based on the
time-division duplex mode. Analysts said export opportunities could be huge if local manufacturers consider
other international 3G standards in their designs.
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