China Unicom goes mobile

China Unicom, the country’s second-largest wireless operator, aims to challenge China Mobile’s dominant position and win a third of the future users of the long-awaited third-generation (3G) mobile services.

Unicom announced the target after it said it would invest up to RMB100 billion ($16 billion) in the next two years to upgrade its network, with most of the money spent on the development of 3G.

Unicom is merging with fixed line operator China Netcom as part of Beijing’s state-orchestrated plan to reorganise the telecoms sector into three operators — each with wireless and fixed line services.

As part of the shake-up, China Telecom, currently the country’s biggest fixed-line operator, is taking over Unicom’s CDMA mobile business. Meanwhile, Unicom will continue to operate a bigger and more profitable GSM network.

Analysts said that Unicom’s target to grab a third of the 3G market was achievable because the company is expected to build its services on the widely-used and commercially-proven W-CDMA standard, offered by most European operators.
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Source: Financial Times

TD-SCDMA mobile

The Chinese government has given the green light to China Mobile to build a nationwide commercial trial network based on TD-SCDMA technology, the local 3G standard.

Whether China Mobile greeted the green light with unalloyed pleasure is open for debate.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology told the China Daily that the mobile operator had received approval to expand the network, currently operational in select cities, to national coverage.

However, he did not provide a time frame for when China Mobile would start the expansion. China Mobile started commercial trials of TD-SCDMA in eight cities in April, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Shenyang.

Analysts believe the ministry clearance underlines the government’s preference for 3G networks built on the TD-SCDMA standard. China Mobile has reportedly also been considering using WCDMA. Reported tests on TD-SCDMA seem to suggest that this technology still needs improvement.
Source: Telecom Paper