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

To: S100 who wrote (2918)	5/16/2001 7:37:40 PM
From: S100	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12229

3G ignites hopes of telecoms Author: HOU MINGJUAN (old, new, who knows? posting just in case.) China's telecoms industry can't afford to miss the opportunity to develop the third generation (3G) telecommunications or it will take another decade to catch up to more advanced nations, warned speakers at a 3G Forum held last Friday. China has become the largest mobile telecoms market and owns the most far-reaching network for mobile communications (GSM), said Yang Yigang, vice-president of Chinese Academy of Telecoms Technology (CATT). However, foreign telecoms companies are the real winners in the Chinese market, he said. More than 90 per cent of the China's 100 million mobile phone users are using foreign branded mobile phones, which earn almost all of the 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) market. Yang said that's because China had no patents in the first and second generations of mobile technology. Domestic firms must pay high patent fees or import most of the equipment. "But in the 3G age, China has got bargaining power as we have raised our own patent-owned technology standard," Yang said. The telecom industry is still in the second generation, which is represented by digital voice transportation. But given the 50 per cent annual growth rate of new subscribers and increasing demand for mobile Internet, 3G will soon replace 2G as the major player in the market. There are presently three technology standards for 3G telecoms: WCDMA, raised by European and Japanese telecoms companies, CDMA2000, raised by US firms, and TD-SCDMA, raised by China's Datang Telecom. Which technology standard China adopts will mean huge market opportunities for related companies. "China will not decide which standard to adopt before 2002," said Wu Jichuan, minister of the information industry. More than 400 billion yuan (US$48 billion) has been spent to import mobile equipments since 1995, when China started to develop mobile telecoms. Domestic companies have spent more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) for patents, Yang said. Yet in the 3G age, domestic patent-owned TD-SCDMA would save domestic companies great sums of money, said Yang. TD-SCDMA provides phone and Internet service but is considered an immature technology compared with the other proposed standards by foreign telecoms operators. Datang Telecom, a subsidiary of CATT, together with German-based Siemens, bet their future on TD-SCDMA and spent billions in the research and development of the technology. The three technology standards have advantages to different segments. WCDMA, raised by European companies, which also raised GSM used by China's 100 million mobile phone users today, could provide the most efficient network switch cost from the present GSM to WCDMA. In Europe, a total of 70 new WCDMA networks will be launched in the near future. Early lab trials have shown that the technology is advanced. CDMA2000 is developed on the base of narrow band CDMA, which was recently adopted by China Unicom. Unicom said its CDMA network would soon have 40 million users. Transfer from the narrow band CDMA network to CDMA2000 is the most efficient way for Unicom. TD-SCDMA is the only telecoms standard ever created by a Chinese company. The government is showing support for it. From a patriotic point of view, the technology should be adopted by the home market. "If TD-SCDMA is adopted, not only Datang, but the country's telecoms equipment vendors will also get a boost," Yang said. China Mobile, the country's dominant mobile telecoms operator, said it would choose its 3G standard based on one that has the most advanced technology and the lowest costs. China Mobile researcher Huang Yuhong said the company supported the development of TD-SCDMA and is member of the TD-SCDMA forum. Some experts noted that patriotism is not the key to making such a significant business decision. Only the most efficient technology standard could win the Chinese market, said Robert Mao, president of Nortel China. www1.chinadaily.com.cn

To: S100 who wrote (2918)	5/16/2001 10:14:39 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 12229

OT on NZ. < Too many New Zealanders are still too smug about their relative superiority. There is no objective basis for their smugness. In terms of purchasing power parity, New Zealand's gross domestic product per capita is now less than half that of Singapore's. Asians can feel the sting of exclusion, of not belonging, in New Zealand. The official policy of engagement with Asia still needs to be translated more effectively in the attitudes of New Zealanders.> NZ is sinking under the huge cost of an out of control welfare state which is consuming the great bulk of government spending [over half the spending in the country]. What's worse is that government-funded breeding programmes are producing violent, neglected children who are good for little more than another generation of welfare or jail. It's a bit like a nuclear fission reaction - one bad egg produces two, which go on to produce another two each. Soon, the place has exploded. The average Kiwi does actually think they are pretty good, but I think the superior self-image is crumbling as swarms of wealthy Chinese descend on the country. It's now dimly in the consciousness of the Good Kiwi Bloke that they are not now living in Godzone, the richest little country on earth with the best way of life on earth. It's still pretty good of course [or I wouldn't be here]. But typical hourly rates are NZ$10 = US$4 = well below the poverty level in the USA. But keep in mind that bread costs NZ$2 = US80c and it's nicer than USA bread which is full of sugar and lacking body. A nice motel costs NZ$80 = US$32. Locally-produced stuff is cheap. So life's not too bad. A good strategy for Yanks is to save money in the USA, then come here, hire a bunch of servants and live like a King or Queen. It's what I've done. Earn it overseas, spend it here. Works well. It's certainly true that Kiwis have far less reason to feel smug than they did 30 years ago. They are becoming aware of that fact. On the Asian immigrants, the f.o.b [fresh off the boat] ones call the local indigenous Asians 'bananas' because they are yellow on the outside, but white in the centre. A bit like Greenies are called watermelons = green on the outside and red [socialist] in the centre. It's not true that Asians have any problem here because of their ethnicity. Local Chinese have been well-respected and admired. They arrived, usually poor [like most people in Kiwiland], throughout the 20th century, worked hard, did very well and were admired. The new wave [1990s] immigrants [mostly the offspring of them] are less-respected because they are [this is a wild generalisation] rich, brash, exhibitionist, wipe out marine life [they take anything that moves] and can't drive. Local Chinese are irritated when mistaken for the new immigrants [understandably]. Many of the new immigrants shoot through to Oz when they have citizenship, which gives them right of entry to Australia. Kiwiland needs to dump the welfare nonsense. That's the main thing wrecking the country. But there are also plenty of regulations which are red-taping the place. Employment laws are hindering progress too. Mqurice