InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[mschere]

China to trial operations of TD-SCDMA networks in 3Q07



Cage Chao, Beijing; [Wednesday 11 July 2007]


China will begin trial operations of its home-grown TD-SCDMA cellular networks in the third quarter of 2007 with official operations of the 3G system to commence the following quarter, according to Zhang Daijun, CTO of China-based T3G Technology.

China's major telecom carriers, including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Network Communications, have recently purchased an additional 13,000 base stations to facilitate the testing of the networks, Zhang pointed out.

The fast deployment of TD-SCDMA networks in China is likely to make the TD-SCDMA the only 3G network in commercial operation during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang stated.

T3G, a joint venture between NXP Semiconductors, Datang Mobile, Samsung Electronics and Motorola, has come out with TD-SCDMA handset solutions, developed based on NXP's 2.75G (EDGE) chip technology, that enable automatic handover of dual-mode TD-SCDMA/EDGE calls, Zhang stated.

In addition to T3G's two major investors, Samsung and Motorola, a number of handset makers, including Nokia, LG Electronics, Sony Ericsson as well as Taiwan-based BenQ and Inventec Appliances have all engaged in the development of TD-SCDMA handsets, Zhang indicated.

The number of TD-SCDMA handsets is expected top two million units initially when the TD-SCDMA network commences its commercial operations in the fourth quarter, Zhang said.

The market of TD-SCDMA handsets could top 75 million units by 2011, Zhang noted, citing data from market research firms.