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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: foundation who wrote (30618)	1/2/2003 8:47:24 AM
From: foundation	Respond to of 196587

China's 3G standard not ready till '04-developer Thursday January 2, 8:08 am ET BEIJING, Jan 2 (Reuters) - China's home-grown third-generation mobile technology is still in testing and will not be available until 2004 at the earliest, its main developer said on Thursday. The government-backed standard, called TD-SCDMA, is a potential rival to Europe's WCDMA service and U.S. Qualcomm Corp's (NasdaqNM:QCOM - News) CDMA2000 when the world's biggest cellular market chooses 3G technologies. "It will be ready for large-scale commercial use in 2004 at the earliest," Li Shihe, chief technology officer at Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd, told Reuters. The technology's readiness could determine when fixed-line phone operators China Telecom (HKSE:0728.HK - News; NYSE:CHL - News) and China Netcom receive licences to build 3G networks. Analysts say the government may ask either of the two to adopt TD-SCDMA. Li said the trials were being performed by many international telecoms firms, but gave no further details. He also declined to say if the standard would be compatible with WCDMA, which is derived from the same technology as TD-SCDMA. Datang's parent company said it would spend $120 million to develop the technology in 2003. Its German partner Siemens AG (XETRA:SIEGn.DE - News) plans to spend $50 million on the standard this year. Li defended the technical merits of TD-SCDMA, which analysts have criticised for losing its signal in fast-moving cars. The service was designed to deliver high-speed Internet and video to mobile phones. "The technology is as good as the others," Li said. TD-SCDMA, which stands for Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, could earn billions for its developer and Chinese telecoms equipment makers if it is adopted widely. Officials have said they expected China's telecoms regulator to issue 3G licences in the second half of 2003 or early 2004 to wireless giant China Mobile (HKSE:0941.HK - News), rival China Unicom (HKSE:0762.HK - News) as well as the two fixed-line operators. The government formed an industrial alliance of Chinese telecoms vendors and operators in November in a show of support for the standard. Li, formerly chief engineer at the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology, began developing the technology with state support in the late 1990s. biz.yahoo.com ========== How long will the misconception continue... as Li fishes for sorely needed backing? The misconception that TD-CDMA is a symmetric competitor with cdma2000 and UMTSwCDMA? That FDD and TDD technologies are, somehow, synonymous and interchangeable? TD-SCDMA, and its true competitor UTRA-TDD, may well have selected applications - for data in dense, low range, pico and micro cell settings. But no carrier, in China or elsewhere, can base a primary voice+data network on TD-SCDMA. In the industry, such comments can only make Li look silly. Then again, it often appears that most everyone is spouting lies and half-truths, so perhaps Li fits right in. Funny world.

To: foundation who wrote (30618)	1/2/2003 9:44:54 AM
From: foundation	Respond to of 196587

Portugal Extends 3G Deadline 01.02.03 Portugal's three remaining UMTS players have had the deadline for launching 3G services extended by a year to December 31, 2003, by the country's Economy Ministry because of a lack of interoperable equipment. TMN (the mobile operator of incumbent telco Portugal Telecom Group), Optimus, and Vodafone Telecel are the three left standing after they carved up the carcass of failed greenfield operator OniWay (see Europe's 3G Shrinkage). It seems the Iberian countries are taking a more lenient approach to their 3G license holders than are other parts of Europe, as the Spanish operators recently received a financial helping hand in addition to previous deadline extensions (see Spain Offers 3G Respite). — Ray Le Maistre, European Editor, Unstrung unstrung.com