special delivery -- CDMA in China: The Saga Continues
11/30/2000
Nov. 30, 2000 (LTH - CMP via COMTEX) -- U.S. wireless equipment vendor Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego), which has
long pioneered code-division multiple access (CDMA) wireless technology, may have finally found a way to see its
patented technology widely deployed in China, the world's largest wireless market. China United Telecommunications
Corp. (China Unicom, Beijing), the country's second-largest mobile operator, said it will develop a mobile phone
network using CDMA. China Unicom earlier this month said it will set up a subsidiary to build and operate the
planned narrowband CDMA network, but added that the timing of any deployment had yet to be determined and the
scale will be decided by market demand. In June, the operator had publicly abandoned plans for CDMA, saying it had
already invested billions of dollars in building its existing global system for mobile communication (GSM) network.
That decision came under heavy pressure from state-owned domestic equipment makers that have invested heavily in
developing CDMA products and from government officials who promised the U.S. government that China would adopt
the standard to speed Beijing's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). The government in July ordered the
Chinese military to surrender Great Wall Telecom, which operates a trial CDMA network, to Unicom. Although the
deal has been held up by wrangling over the price, the delay doesn't appear to affect China Unicom's plan to build a
new network. "Beyond supplementing the Great Wall network, we want to expand subscriber capacity," says Wang
Jianzhou, executive vice president of the state-owned company.
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