China begins commercial testing of TD-SCDMA
31 March 2008
China begins commercial testing of TD-SCDMA
China moved a step closer to commercialising its home grown 3G technology, with the revelation that the country's leading operator is to deploy TD-SCDMA from next month.
Starting April 1, China Mobile will issue around 20,000 TD-SCDMA handsets to selected users and will make a further 40,000 available to paying subscribers.
The trial will take place in eight cities, including Beijing, and will last until July. It's not yet clear whether China will be making 3G services available throughout the Beijing Olympics, which take place in August, although many industry commentators had expected this to be a prime opportunity to launch 3G services.
Adding another element to the mix however, is China Mobile's announcement last month that it would be trialling next generation wireless technology LTE (Long Term Evolution), in a three way partnership with Vodafone and Verizon Wireless.
However, it looks like this latest announcement demonstrates China Mobile's commitment or requirement to commercialise TD-SCDMA. Some of the measures to facilitate market acceptance of the technology include attractively priced calling plans, the availability of six subsidised handset models, the availability of USIM cards for consumers who purchase TD-SCDMA handsets through other channels, financial incentives for resellers, publicity campaigns, and after-sale customer support.
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