3G Development in China May 18-24
May 22, 2009
- China Mobile has released mobile phone numbers in several Chinese cities, including Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Urumchi, Hefei, Nanjing, Lhasa, Taiyuan, and Harbin, where the second-phase of TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) network construction took place, the Sina News reported on May 19.
Furthermore, according to SinoCast Daily Business on May 18 that China Mobile has entered into a cooperation agreement with the government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, whereby they will collaborate with each other in ten areas, including emergency system deployments and TD-SCDMA network construction in the region.
Under the agreement, China Mobile will invest 15 billion RMB (US$2.2 billion; US$1 = 6.8 RMB) into Xinjiang during the 2009-2010 period in a bid to accelerate TD-SCDMA adoption in the region. Meanwhile, China Mobile launched TD-SCDMA services in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, on May 16 and aims to expand the 3G network coverage to other cities of the autonomous region by the end of October, 2009. Aside from Xinjiang, the company began TD-SCDMA commercial trials in Tibet, another autonomous region in western China, in mid-May 2009. The TD-SCDMA network construction in Lhasa, which started from December 2008, has been completed.
- China Unicom has launched its WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) commercial trial services in 55 cities as planned on May 17, with its aim to cover 284 cities by the end of September 2009, the China Business News reported on May 18. The services will be officially launched by year-end 2009.
Following the commercial trials, the first batch of over 500,000 WCDMA terminals are expected to hit the market soon, of which 270,000 are mobile phones and 270,000 are data cards and the remaining terminals are netbook PCs, the Xinhua News reported on May 20. The terminals will cover mid-range to high-end products, with price tags ranging between 800 RMB (US$117.6) to 6,000 RMB (US$882.4). All China Unicom's WCDMA terminals should provide an optimum downlink rate of 7.2Mbps/3.6Mbps and uplink rate of 5.76Mbps/2Mbps