Oh Grand Poobah, my prediction is Q's dough goes to Mex and China this year....
CDMA Looks For Cracks In China's GSM Wall
By Jeremy Scott-Joynt
30-MAR-98
China is on the verge of embracing CDMAOne mobile technology, giving the second digital standard a shot at success in one of the fastest-growing markets.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿ So far all of China's commercial digital networks have been GSM or sometimes D-AMPS, giving the likes of Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola a valuable toe-hold in supplying equipment to Chinese operators. Indeed, GSM has been seen as the de facto national standard of choice.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿ The two existing national networks, run by dominant carrier China Telecom and its competitor, China Unicom, are both GSM.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿ But QualComm, the pioneer of CDMAOne, should also now get access, and apparently with this in mind has started a joint research program with Beijing University of Posts and Telecoms, sponsoring BUPT students and professors to come to California to study CDMAOne technology.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿ The BUPT is a prestigious research organization attached to the now Ministry of Information Industries. The MII came into being earlier this month from the amalgamation of the Posts and Telecoms, Electronic Industries and Radio, Film and TV Ministries, and is headed by a BUPT graduate, Wu Jichuan.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿ At the moment the frequencies needed for CDMA are effectively owned by the People's Liberation Army, China's armed forces. But the PLA is a major force in Chinese industry in its own right, and next month looks set to announce its intention to start its own national network, China Telecom Great Wall, as a 50-50 joint venture with dominant operator China Telecom.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿ Great Wall has been running trial CDMAOne networks for some time, the biggest being a 43,000-capacity system opened in November in the capital Beijing. But none have been run on a commercial basis. |
