ASB and Datang to jointly set up TD-SCDMA Lab

April 9, 2006

Alcatel Shanghai Bell (ASB) and Datang Mobile announced Thursday that the two companies will jointly establish a TD-SCDMA lab to test the interoperability between GSM and TD-SCDMA applications. Datang Mobile is the main developer of the Chinese TD-SCDMA 3G standard.

The lab, with operations in Datang Mobile's Beijing headquarters and ASB's Shanghai facilities, will host a complete TD-SCDMA system including core, radio access, application platform and terminals. This builds on a TD-SCDMA solution jointly developed by the two companies.

"The joint lab will start with testing system interoperability between GSM and TD-SCDMA, followed by tests on terminals and applications," Chen Song, an official with Alcatel Shanghai Bell, told Interfax.

The lab is expected to be operational by the end of March 2006. Professionals from both companies will work together to conduct a series of interoperability tests including system switching and cell reselection. They will also focus on the optimization of the TD-SCDMA system for delivery of 3G applications such as video streaming, video conferencing and online gaming.

Datang Mobile and ASB formed a partnership on TD-SCDMA development in November 2004. In August 2005, the two companies jointly announced the completion of the industrialization phase of TD-SCDMA development in China and are ready to deliver TD-SCDMA products to the market.

TD-SCDMA, CDMA 2000, and WCDMA are currently the three 3G standards to be deployed in China. The TD-SCDMA standard, which has never been commercially used, lags behind the other two standards in terms of maturity.

The Chinese government is expected to issue 3G licenses in the second half of 2006. However, when 3G services start in China, the networks are unlikely to cover the entire country at the beginning. Therefore, interconnection and roaming between current GSM and 3G networks will be a critical issue over the next few years.