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The Chinese Government should roll out its third generation (3G) of
wireless telecommunications strategies as soon as possible to keep up with
3G development worldwide, according to Gao Yan, president of Mobile
Networks with Siemens (China) Communications Group.
"I believe both telecom operators and equipment providers and handset
terminal makers are ready for the take off of 3G in China," he told China
Daily yesterday in an interview.
It is widely projected that the government will release 3G licences
later this year.
"I have no clear time
frame , but it has become very clear that 3G should
be kicked off soon if China is to keep pace with the development of 3G
worldwide," Gao said.
The government has long adopted an cautious attitude towards 3G
deployment as the costs of network upgrades, technologies, as well as
terminal handsets are issues of concern.
To better pave the way for its introduction, regulators have conducted
two large tests on all-3G related equipment and facilities in the past
three years.
Analysts believe that the immaturity of Chinese standard TD-SCDMA (Time
Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), compared to WCDMA
(wideband CDMA) and CDMA 2000, which have been put into commercial use in
the global market, is a major reason for the delayed decision-making
process.
However, Gao said it was high time China began its 3G development.
"3G will be a great opportunity for both domestic operators and telecom
equipment makers to stand side by side with their foreign counterparts as
3G will offer an equal footing for competitors," he said.
"And only provided with a market environment can 3G really mature," he
said.
In fact, the country is not totally unprepared. Figures show that by
the end of last year, the number of WCDMA users had risen to more than 16
million.
And many telecom operators, especially in the European market, have
officially begun commercializing their 3G services, which has spurred 3G
development.
Both ABG Sundal Collier and Multimedia Research Institute expect that
China's WCDMA users are likely to surpass 150 million by the end of next
year.
As the world's largest telecommunications market,
China has become a "must-be-there" market for almost all 3G equipment providers and terminal producers,
including Motorola, Nokia, Siemens, Nortel Network, Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, Samsung and LG.
(China Daily) | 
Updated: 2005-03-28 14:55
