China Mobile Chooses Potential 3G Partners

March 11, 2007

The giant China Mobile says that it has added another four major telecoms equipment vendors to its roster of possible equipment suppliers for its yet-to-be-announced 3G network. The whole infrastructure could cost China Mobile around US$2.6 billion.

The latest players to get their names on the guest list are: Ericsson, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, FiberHome Technologies and Guangzhou New Postcom Equipment Co. According to reports in the local press, these four will join local companies Datang Mobile, Potevio, ZTE and TD Tech on the list of possible contractors.

Each of the eight nominated companies hopes to be heavily involved in China Mobile's TD-SCDMA (time division synchronous code division multiple access) network construction. The mobile company plans to set up TD-SCDMA networks in several major cities nationwide soon, to ensure 3G services are available in time for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

According to reports on the China Daily website, the mobile company has not yet decided on its final investment budget. Apparently the carrier submitted three different budgets to government regulators, the final one chosen will depend on the course taken by the government.

China is expected to issue a 3G licence for its home-grown standard, the TD-SCDMA system, before allowing other competing technology systems to operate. It is expected that licences for two western-developed 3G systems will also be issued at a later date.