Samsung nears deal with carrier
Benjamin Scent
Monday, December 11, 2006
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest electronics company, said it is close to finalizing a deal with a leading mainland telecom operator to develop widespread wireless broadband networks across China, possibly covering the entire country, including remote rural areas.
"We are very close to closing the contract with one carrier," Samsung Electronics senior vice president Jeonghan Kim told The Standard.
He would not identify the partner pending an official announcement.
For its foray into the mainland, Seoul-based Samsung will set up its wireless broadband network in one or two major cities first before expanding to other metropolitan and rural areas, Kim said.
The exact roll-out plan would be up to the Chinese joint-venture partner.
"The extent of the wireless network will reach as far as the [mainland carrier's] existing voice network," Kim said at the ITU Telecom World conference.
China Mobile (0941), the largest mobile operator in the mainland, claims to have voice networks covering 100 percent of the country, including remote rural areas.
Since Samsung's wireless broadband technologies enable data-only networks that are not like the traditional mobile networks carrying voice calls, they could also be offered by fixed-line broadband providers such as leader China Telecom (0728).
Technology mavens hail South Korean companies - especially Samsung - as the world leaders in implementing mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access technologies, which deliver wireless access to the Internet at speeds much faster than traditional wired broadband lines. The Korean version of the WiMax technology is known as WiBro, short for "wireless broadband."
Kim said KTF, South Korea's No 2 mobile operator, has launched commercial wireless broadband services in its home country using Samsung's technology, and its networks will have 100 percent geographic coverage in the country by the first quarter of 2007.
Samsung's plans for development in China could lead to the largest deployment of "fourth-generation" wireless broadband in the world, as the mainland has almost 95 times the land area of South Korea.
thestandard.com.hk
Cheers! TM |
