Advertisement
Promo

Mobile working Toolkit in association with http://marketing.ianywhere.com/forms/EMEA09SUPSybaseMobilityLeadership-IDC

China developing domestic 3G phone

Staff CNETAsia

Published: 04 Nov 2003 10:55 GMT

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendly
  • Post Comment

Handsets that run on China's own home-grown high-speed cellular data network will become available in 2005.

The 3G mobile phone is the first to use China's TD-SCDMA (time division-synchronous CDMA) standard. It was developed using local patents, marking another step towards China's goal of commercially using the China-developed data standard.

The developers plan to work with China mobile-phone producers and operators on the commercial release of the TD-SCDMA phone, reported official China news agency, Xinhua. The development project was sponsored by the Chongqing Institute of Posts and Telecommunications.

There is already an experimental network already in operation in Jiangbei District, Chongqing, southwest China, set up by Datang, a local telecommunications corporation. Other backers of China's TD-SCDMA are the local Huawei telecom-equipment firm and German manufacturer Siemens.

3G phones are seen by China's telecoms industry as the future for mobile telecommunications, offering a wider range of services to users.

China's domestically developed TD-SCDMA standard was recently approved by the International Telecommunications Union of the United Nations, and is competing with the European standard WCDMA (wideband code division access) and the American CDMA2000 (code division multiple access) standard.

With more than 221 million mobile users, and growth of 4 million new subscribers a month, China is the world's largest cellular market. The push to domestic standards such as TD-SCDMA aims to cut licensing fees for foreign-developed standards, and hopes eventually make China-developed technology popular internationally.

However, industry watchers have expressed doubts about TD-SCDMA's success, given that it loses connection in moving cars and has uneven cell-to-cell handover. Three of China's four mobile and fixed line operators plan to build WCDMA networks, using TD-SCDMA as a supplementary protocol, with the fourth carrier opting for the CDMA2000 protocol, according to analysts Norson Telecom Consulting.

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendlyPrint with EPSON

Did you find this article useful?
127 out of 194 people found this useful


Full Talkback thread

1 comment

  1. TD-SCDMA address the main problem with CDMA - how... Anonymous

Enterprise Smartphones Special Report Special Report

Nokia E63

Nokia E63

Review Although it's missing some features (chiefly HSDPA and GPS), Nokia's E63 is a well-thought-out, ergonomic and affordable smartphone.

More Special Reports

Video icon

Video

On The Road Blog

Nokia halves smartphone portfolio

Nokia has reduced the number of smartphone models it intends to introduce in 2010 by half, according to reports. Quoted in an article on Reuters, the Finnish handset maker's new... More

1 comment

Can I have fries with that? (Consumer...

Licence policies of Tech company's have been for a long time both complicated and 'Dick Turpin-esque', people just click 'I agree' without reading the Agreement. I do the same, but... More

1 comment

Lenovo repurchases mobile phone arm

Lenovo has bought back the mobile phone arm that it sold to a private equity firm at the start of 2008, the company said on Friday. The manufacturer sold Lenovo Mobile to the Hony... More

Post a comment


Skip Sub Navigation Links to CNET Brand Links

Help

Become part of the ZDNet community.

Newsletters