from china nex:
Last Update: October 28, 06:20 PM
Datang Telecom said it is the largest beneficiary of MII's new spectrum plan on 3G, which is expected to make public this week. In addition to center frequency bands, Datang will receive bandwidth of 155MHz for its TD-SCDMA.
However, industry analysts say approval of 3G spectrum does not mean the government has decided on 3G standard. They warn it is too early to predict which standard will eventually be adopted or how many 3G licenses will be issued. In Europe, for example, 3G spectrum was developed ten years ago, but licensing did not happen until last year. Nonetheless, MII officials hail the plan as the most "decisive" step in government's effort to promote 3G in China.
An unnamed China Telecom official said if the company obtains a mobile license, its cost will be extremely low, unlike ferocious bidding in Europe and the US. China Mobile said it will take a long time for 3G market to materialize; while Unicom is busy on CDMA2000 1X deployment, indicating they are not focusing on 3G for now, despite push by equipment manufacturers.
[10/28]
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Two weeks after launching MMS, China Mobile is having difficulty supplying handsets that support the service.
According to the company, in Beijing alone, MMS customers surged to 4,000 in just two weeks. Overall, monthly volume of short messages for China Mobile has risen to 8 billion, most from SMS. China Mobile attributed caution from handset makers to the shortfall, due to unpredictable market conditions; but without handsets the market appears even more ambiguous.
At present, only a handful of manufacturers have products supporting MMS, including Nokia, NEC and Sony Ericsson. About five models should be available by yearend.
[10/28]
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Samsung Kejian, a joint venture between the two handset companies has begun construction of a handset factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong. The facility plans to make 10 million CDMA handsets by 2004, the largest in China.
The facility costs about 120 million yuan ($14.5 million), it plans to make 5 million handsets in 2003, mainly under Samsung and Kejian brand names that have been sold for 800,000 units. Earlier, Unicom ordered 700,000 CDMA2000 1X handsets from the JV.
[10/28]
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A report said Siemens, the sole foreign support of TD-SCDMA, is quietly changing its attitude by holding all investment on the project with Datang, inventor of the 3G standard. Siemens has denied the change and vowed to continue support for TD-SCDMA.
Instead, the company said it will continue to follow the development. Insiders say Siemens began to cut back its investment in TD-SCDMA last year and it is virtually stopped this year. In August, MII conducted a field survey on the state of TD-SCDMA, and did not offer any substantial support, whereas Datang had hoped the government to push operators to use the standard, or the company could not afford the high cost for R&D alone.
Chinese operators, meanwhile, seem to be heading in different directions. China Telecom, while still waiting for its mobile license, has shown interest in WCDMA; Netcom has been conducting WCDMA trials in Beijing and Shanghai. Unicom is out of the picture as it is focusing entirely on CDMA2000.
[10/28]
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Nokia (China) said it is confident about WCDMA and the company's position in the world market for 3G.
The company lays out the three major service areas for 3G: voice coverage, mobile data and strong spread of mobile data. While current GPRS can provide some mobile data service, Nokia hopes 3G will make it leapfrog. The company reiterated the advantage of GSM and its migration to WCDMA. It projected 85% of worldwide customers will choose GSM by 2006.
Nokia began to supply WCDMA network equipment last September and is conducting tests on interconnection. Nokia has supplied 25 3G networks under construction, and 17 in testing. Nokia said China needs 3G as spectrum capacity for current cellphone service is becoming congested, whereas 3G can offer more cost-effective solutions for voice and increase operator's competitiveness.
[10/28]
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Cellphone users in Beijing now can receive employment information after a job placement website went to operation last week.
Reports say more than 4,000 cellphone users in the Chinese capital are using the service. They can send a short message about their name, sex, age (there is no such thing as sex or age discrimination in China), profession and requirements, and the job website will send back opportunities that suit their applications to the handset. The service will soon connect to similar websites in other cities.
[10/28]
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Beijing business authority is asking all handset retailers set up a product checking system in store to help consumers identify if their purchase is a fake.
Counterfeiting is rampant in China. The city authority says all retailers must set up a computer for handset information such as serial number, maker ID and permit number, or establish an Internet account for online check.
[10/28]
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J-Phone, the third largest cellphone operator in Japan, says there are more than 7 million customers using handsets with a built-in camera, indicating strong market demand for new services.
J-Phone is a joint venture between Japan Telecom and Vodafone of UK. It says customers using handsets with built-in camera are now 53.6% of total cellphone users in Japan. J-Phone introduced camera handset in late 2000, the first in the world.
Ironically, except for Japan and to a less degree, South Korea, camera handsets have received lackluster reaction in other countries including the US for cumbersome service and high charges.
[10/28]
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Guomai, a company for paging services merged with Unicom three years ago, has developed a nationwide iDEN digital trunked radio network, a step the company hails as an important "strategic transformation" from analog to digital.
iDEN is a popular technology for trunked radio and has more than 10 million customers worldwide. iDEN handsets can support Chinese characters, two-way radio, short message and CDPD (low-speed packet data).
China began trunked radio service in 1990 using SmartNet analog system by Motorola. There are three SmartNet systems for 83 channels at a capacity of 160 terminals per channel. At present, Guomai has 16,000 customers used for 1,600 businesses including government, city development, public utilities, supply, delivery and security personnel.
[10/28]
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Next Wednesday (Oct. 30), the MII will announce a plan for 3G spectrum allocation, which includes frequency bands for TD-SCDMA, a 3G standard developed by the Chinese. Analysts say the policy is a clear sign the government will continue to support TD-SCDMA.
Reports say the plan reserves 60MHz x 2 bands for WCDMA and CDMA2000 and 155MHz for TD-SCDMA; the standard occupies smaller bandwidth compared to other rivals. Interestingly, the plan reserves three blocks in 1880-1920MHz, 2010-2025MHz and 2300-2400MHz; the first is used by current GPRS network, the second is center frequency for 3G in most countries and the last was originally assigned to Datang Telecom, inventor of TD-SCDMA.
However, commercial success of TD-SCDMA or any other 3G standard will depend not only on spectrum allocation, which is important, but on other aspects as well like equipment, market demand and service.
[10/25]
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