CHINA UNICOM CONFIRMS GSM1X TRIAL
China Unicom to Give New Qualcomm Mobile Technology First Test
By Kenneth Wong
Beijing, Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China Unicom Ltd., China's No. 2 mobile-phone company, plans what may be the first test of a system designed to link the world's two biggest cellular standards, which are now incompatible.
Qualcomm Inc., the U.S. developer of code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology, will supply test equipment to Unicom's Suzhou unit in eastern China in April, Ju Zhenguo, manager of the Suzhou office, said in an interview. Unicom will try to fit the equipment on its global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a rival standard used by 7 of 10 mobile users in the world.
A successful test may lead to the linking of the world's two biggest mobile-phone standards, allowing Unicom to connect its older GSM network to the CDMA network it built under government orders and began operating last year.
A linkage would also allow Vodafone Plc, China Mobile (H.K.) Ltd. and other GSM carriers to use San Diego Qualcomm's technology to offer high-speed services such as video-conferencing.
The trial of the so-called GSM1X technology ``will probably take only a month,'' said Ju. ``We'll then know if it works or not. Our Beijing headquarters is already making the arrangements.''
Suzhou, a scenic city famous for its lakes in China's Jiangsu province, is an hour's train ride from Shanghai.
Competition
Unicom and state-owned parent China United Telecommunications Corp. serve 61 million GSM customers. Their year-old CDMA service has attracted 7 million subscribers. China surpassed the U.S. as the world's biggest mobile-phone market last year and has 206 million cell-phone users. Unicom competes with China Mobile (H.K.) Ltd., the world's biggest cell-phone company by subscribers.
Unicom would be required to change over base stations and other equipment to adopt the new system. Cost of the refit hasn't been determined.
``My question is how familiar Qualcomm is with GSM technology,'' said Edison Lee, an analyst at JP Morgan Chase & Co. ``The technology is only in the laboratory. How conclusive can the results be? The risk for Unicom is very high.''
Qualcomm, holder of patents that are the basis for mobile phones used by 135 million people, is looking to expand its market by pitching its technology to operators of GSM systems that originated in Europe. The company has begun shipping chips for phones that will be able to operate on both GSM and CDMA standards, Chief Operating Officer Anthony Thornley said last week.
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Where do they dig up these analysts? Instead of "the risk for Unicom is very high," how about "the opportunity for Unicom is immense." I guess I'm not surprised. |
