China finally admits domestic 3G standard doesn’t cut the mustard

June 29, 2005 - source: BWCS

It's official, China's home-grown TD-SCDMA, next generation mobile phone standard still faces several technical hurdles before it can be used commercially. Leaked reports on a recent series of trials had suggested that the domestic system was not performing as well as it might, but a government statement yesterday confirmed that TD-SCDMA still faces "difficulties."

The government's director general of the Department of Science & Technology of the Ministry and Information Industry, Wen Ku, admitted that some of the issues to be sorted out before any TD-SCDMA system could be launched include communication between 2G and 3G systems and maintenance of signals. However, he insisted that research on the new systems had made progress.

According to Wen Ku, China needs to develop more 3G applications and services to attract future customers. He announced to a mobile summit in Beijing "We are very delighted to see TD-SCDMA has recorded some milestones in its development." However, these appear to be largely related to the developments of handsets and chipsets. The government had little to say about rumours that the standard had been unable to support more sophisticated mobile services under testing.

While Wen Ku optimistically reported that "An industrial chain (for TD-SCDMA) is gradually being put together" he was unable to shed any light on the mystery of when exactly China is likely to press the go button on 3G licences.