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Ericsson under pressure to use TD-SCDMA
March 12, 2003
Ericsson and other foreign mobile suppliers in China are under
pressure from China Mobile, world's largest mobile operator, to
join the coalition to develop a China's homegrown 3G technology
standard, TD-SCDMA.
Jan Malm, Ericsson's head in China, however, expects that both
the WCDMA and CDMA-2000 standards will be used in China. China Mobile
is testing the TD-SCDMA standard in a high-speed network in Chongqing,
China.
The technology, which the Chinese government hopes will compete
with the two global 3G standards, European-based WCDMA and US-owned
CDMA2000, is being jointly developed by Germany's Siemens and a
state-backed Chinese company, Datang.
Late last year, the government gave its blessing to the project
by promising funds for its development and earmarking radio spectrum
for its use. The government is also believed to have played a role
in assembling the industry coalition of technology champions to
support the standard.
For the Chinese government, TD-SCDMA offers the tantalising prospect
of national ownership of a cellular technological standard.
China Mobile currently uses mainly GSM in its networks, while China
Unicom, mobile operator, has large CDMA networks. Malm expects China
to end up with all three 3G standards.
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3G Motorola A920
