InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[nieves]

3G cellular phone licences to be handed out in China


BEIJING, Feb 7, 2003 (Asia In Focus via COMTEX) -- Licenses for 3G
(third-generation) cellular phone services look set to be distributed by the
Chinese government. It plans to approve licenses for TD-SCDMA, an original
communications standard developed in China, as well as the WCDMA (wide-band code
division multiple access) and cdma2000 standards now used in other countries.

* The approval is expected to trigger a total of more than 1 trillion yen
(US$8.3 billion) in capital spending to develop the infrastructure necessary for
3G services, which enable the high-speed transmission of video.

* The Chinese government is expected to provide 3G licenses to four firms,
including cell phone service providers China MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS CORP. and
CHINA UNITED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP. (China Unicom), and two fixed-line
carriers - CHINA TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP. and CHINA NETCOM CORP.



(C) Copyright 2003 Asia In Focus

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KEYWORD: China
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Telecommunications

(Wall Street)