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Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (1758)	6/5/2000 9:56:00 PM
From: S100	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12231

Mobile Telephony in China Growing and Evolving The number of mobile telephone users in China now exceeds 30 million. According to a Xinhua News Agency report on June 2, China is now the world?s third largest mobile phone market after the United States and Japan. Providing that the market continues to grow as projected, there may be as many as 46 million users by 2000. The size of China?s mobile phone market and its remarkable potential for growth always make it a hotbed of activity. Recently, there have been several developments that have accelerated activity in this business sector. China Unicom Developments Much of the more recent activity in the mobile phone sector is centered on China United Telecommunications Corporation (China Unicom). Ever since the government announced the breakup of the former China Telecom monopoly, China Unicom has been advancing at a rapid pace in the mobile phone sector. Soon the company will be the sole provider of Code Division Multiple Address (CDMA) services in China. The company is also planning to increase its Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications business and hopes to capture 12 percent of the market by the end of 1999. China Unicom to Take Over China Great Wall ?s CDMA Ventures - The Ministry of Information Industry has given China Unicom permission to take control of four mobile telephone networks operated by China Great Wall Networks, a 50-50 venture owned by the People?s Liberation Army and China Telecom. The four trial CDMA systems are located in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. A takeover of the Great Wall networks, which have a combined subscriber capacity of about 60,000, would make China Unicom the country?s sole CDMA provider. China Unicom to Choose Foreign CDMA Suppliers - China Unicom will select two or three foreign systems suppliers for its CDMA mobile network during 1999. According to official Chinese media, Unicom plans to invest 7 billion yuan (US$ 845 million) to establish a nationwide CDMA technology mobile telephony network with initial capacity of two million lines in 1999. This capacity is to be expanded to 10 million lines and cover 160 cities next year. In April 1999, Motorola and Lucent Technologies signed contracts worth US$ 20 million to introduce CDMA technology to China. New contracts over the next two years to provide Unicom?s planned 12 million-subscriber capacity CDMA network would be awarded to two or three foreign equipment vendors, according to Tan Xinghui, General Manager of China Unicom?s Planning and Marketing Department. Based on announcements made in May, the American firms Lucent Technologies and Motorola are vying for the majority of the contracts, while Canada?s Nortel, Sweden?s Ericsson, and South Korea?s Samsung will be bidding for the remaining contracts. Third-Generation Mobile Telecom System Standards The China Research Institute of Mobile Telecommunications Science and Technology is to develop the Chinese version of the third-generation (3G) of mobile telecommunications systems, called IMT-2000. According to a Xinhua News Agency report on June 3, the effort is being conducted with the approval of the MII and Yang Yigang will be at its head. In June last year, China submitted a technology standard proposal (TD-SCDMA) to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in an attempt to gain a position in future standardization procedures related to IMT-2000. However, the ITU failed to reach a uniform set of standards because of various interests represented by some leading world telecommunications companies. Nortel Networks Signs New GSM Deals Nortel Networks announced on June 3 that it had signed contracts with two Chinese mobile telephone network operators to extend capacity on their networks. The total package was reported to be worth US$ 35 million. The deals were with: Liaoning Mobile Communications, to complete a GSM1800 network; and Guizhou Telecom Administration, to expand its existing Nortel GSM900 network. Background and Commentary China?s approval for CDMA opens up a vast range of opportunities for U.S. mobile telephone infrastructure manufacturers. Despite the many apparent signs for optimism, however, U.S. firms are concerned that recent strains on Sino-U.S. relations might cause China to modify its position and seek equipment from non-U.S. sources. Even more alarming is the possibility that the United States could move to restrict CDMA equipment exports. Such an action could bring about huge losses for U.S. firms such as Motorola and Lucent. There are other uncertainties that exist concerning how China Unicom will handle certain issues arising from the company?s takeover of the Great Wall CDMA facilities: It is unclear how China Unicom and the PLA will resolve use of the 800 MHz frequency band, which PLA controls and on which the CDMA network operates; and It is also uncertain how China Unicom will operate existing sections of the Great Wall network if a given manufacturer is a loser in the upcoming bidding process. At least now one question has been answered concerning the PLA?s divestiture from commercial enterprises. The Chinese government apparently does not want the PLA to continue in the civil telecommunications arena. (Related story: Mobile Phone Market Potential Stimulates Heated Competition," Vol. 1, No. 22)? (PRC - Information Technology Review, June 4, 1999) -------- Just in case you have not seen enough articles on China and CDMA, here is yet one more. Link prcitr.work.upi.com