China suspends CDMA rollout, official says
BEIJING, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A Chinese government official confirmed on Friday that Beijing had suspended the rollout of mobile phone technology owned by U.S.-based Qualcomm <QCOM.O> and said no date had been set for a resumption.
"It has just been suspended," said the official in the Ministry of Information Industry's Comprehensive Planning Department.
The suspension comes a week after Qualcomm <QCOM.O> signed an agreement in Beijing for China's number two state carrier, China Unicom, to build a national network using Qualcomm's code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile standard.
The CDMA networks are a cornerstone of China Unicom's plans for a multibillion-dollar initial public offering planned for Hong Kong and possibly New York in May.
Foreign companies have been jockeying for contracts to provide CDMA network equipment to China Unicom so it could build a national network.
The MII had suspended those talks and any rollout of CDMA because "China Unicon has not completed its preparations and applications," the official said.
Lucent Technologies Inc. <LU.N>, Samsung Electronics Co. <05930.KS>, Nortel Networks Corp. <NT.TO> <NT.N> and Motorola Inc. <MOT.N> have been jockeying for lucrative contracts to supply CDMA equipment to China Unicom.
"The bids were occuring too soon," said the official, who declined to make any further explanation.
Foreign executives have speculated the suspension might be a bargaining tactic by Beijing as the U.S. Congress prepares to debate China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
Congressional support for China's entry has been thrown into doubt by Beijing's threat on Monday to invade Taiwan if th eisland dragged its heels indefinitely on talks aimed at reunification.
Officials at China Unicom, formally known as China United Telecommunications Corp, declined to comment.
One foreign executive said he feared China might be banning current-generation CDMA networks altogether in an attempt to funnel resources into development of so-called "third-generation" CDMA networks that offer more sophisticated services.
23:46 02-24-00
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