To: RealMuLan who wrote (594 ) 8/29/2003 11:44:24 PM From: RealMuLan Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 6370 China to boost development of home-grown 3G standard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- www.chinaview.cn 2003-08-29 13:37 @@The government sent out a strong message yesterday that it will enhance its support of the home-grown TD-SCDMA (time division synchronous code division multiple access) system to better position itself in the global telecom market. @@"We are attaching great importance to TD-SCDMA, and will spare no effort to further explore the commercialization of the 3G (third generation) standard," said Zhang Xiaoqiang, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission yesterday at the ongoing TD-SCDMA Forum, which ends today in Beijing. @@"We will continue to support TD-SCDMA and encourage more and more telecom-related enterprises both at home and abroad to participate in optimizing it," echoed Lou Qinjian, vice-minister of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). @@Organized by the TD-SCDMA Forum and the TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance, the event showcases the latest developments of the TD-SCDMA system and probes the business potential of the standard. @@The home-grown TD-SCDMA system, together with the European WCDMA and US-based CDMA2000 systems are three 3G standards that have been acknowledged by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). @@But TD-SCDMA is regarded as less mature, compared with the other two standards. @@"Nevertheless, TD-SCDMA has great market potential, given its advanced technology and rapid development," said Zhang Xinsheng, deputy director-general of the Technology Department of the MII. @@He believed that to further develop TD-SCDMA and form the industrialization of the standard are the key tasks currently facing the system. @@"The market for the TD-SCDMA system is not only confined to China, and its commercial value is for the whole world," said Zhu Gaofeng, director-general of China Communications Standardization Association. @@Tang Ru'an, chief operating officer of China Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd, the main developer of the TD-SCDMA standard, has already formed an initial industrial chain as the system becomes more and more popular. @@The company has joined forces with Siemens, Philips and Samsung, all world's major mobile communications players, to develop the new technology. @@Last year, China set up an alliance of eight domestic firms to back the standard. @@It is predicted that TD-SCDMA technology will go into large scale commercial use sometime in late 2004 or early 2005. @@From a global perspective, analysts pointed out the 3G market has yet to ripen given unprofitable business models, scarce 3G terminals and a lack of attractive wireless data services. @@Figures indicated that a total of 114 3G licences were issued worldwide by the end of last year. More than 100 experimental 3G networks were developed. @@However, due to the unstable nature of high-tech stocks and enormous bidding fees for licences, most of the operators delayed their commercialization of 3G network. @@"We should take advantage of the time delay to further boost the TD-SCDMA," said Zhang Qi, director-general of the Department of the Electronics and Information Product Administration under the MII. @@Facing the lacklustre development of 3G in the international market, foreign telecom-related players have turned to the Chinese market to turn their 3G dreams into reality. news.xinhuanet.com