EU tells China not to develop own 3G standard
November 27, 2002
A European Union official said that China should not go ahead with
its plan to develop its own 3G standard which would break up a world
market dominated by two technologies. The TD-SCDMA standard, developed
by Datang and Siemens, has strong backing by the Chinese government.
Franz Jessen, deputy head of the EU mission in Beijing, told a
group of telecommunications industry officials that an integrated
world standard would reduce costs and benefit globe roaming.
"What we should avoid is a refragmentation of the market where
every country protects its own industry by promoting its own standard,"
he said. He commented that if it happened then it would be a step
backward.
Europe have favoured the WCDMA standard while US prefers Qualcomm's
cdma2000. Chinese officials say the TD-SCDMA technology is more
efficient in densely populated cities such as those in China.
A Siemens spokesman responded to the comments by saying the development
of TD-SCDMA does not constitute a further fragmentation of 3G standards.
"The promotion of TD-SCDMA does not necessarily entail a further
fragmentation because TD-SCDMA is very close to WCDMA," the spokesman
said. "It belongs to the same family."
Datang plans to raise up to US$100 million to fund the development
of its 3G mobile communication technology. It is in talks with BOC
International to raise capital from strategic investors. Discussions
were ongoing and nothing had been finalised, a Datang spokesman
said.
Jessen praised the way Chinese telecom industry is taking it slow
and steady compared to Europe's breakneck pace which some blame
for helping fuel an industry bubble.
"It's clear that China's more cautious position in 3G licence allocations
is a smart move," he said. "China reacted a bit slower than Europe.
In this case, we may have reacted a little too quickly and too enthusiastically."
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