China will issue a third-generation mobile telecom license based on homegrown technology in February after a 20,000-customer trial is completed, government officials and companies involved said.

The two-month test of China-developed TD-SCDMA - time division-synchronous code division multiple access - started at the beginning of this month in Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen, Baoding and Qingdao, the Ministry of Information Industry said.

"TD-SCDMA models have shown they can surmount technology obstacles such as short battery life and overheating on long calls," said Wen Ku, an MII senior official.

About 100 TD-SCDMA base stations have been erected in each of the cities of Baoding, Qingdao and Xiamen while Shanghai and Beijing have 20 in total. The TD-SCDMA phones have been provided mainly to mobile operator executives, government officials and telecommunications experts, according to Tang Ru'an, president of Datang Mobile, a bellwether firm in TD-SCDMA. "The host country is required to deploy a network 18 months ahead of the Olympics if it aims to adopt a new technology for the games," Tang said. "So the deadline is February."

China is expected to issue a TD-SCDMA 3G license first, a move to support its own technology, then issue licenses for United States-developed CDMA2000, or code division multiple access, and WCDMA, wideband CDMA.

TD-SCDMA, however, is not as commercially mature as the other two technologies, which have already been adopted overseas. "TD-SCDMA is now qualified for commercial use after tests on wireless networks, connection to other networks and digital antennas," said Cao Shuming, an MII official in charge of 3G testing.

China has invested 200 million yuan (US$25 million) to fund telecommunications carriers China Mobile, China Netcom and China Telecom to finish the test. About 20 handset models have passed the tests, which were carried out by domestic companies such as ZTE and Datang, Cao said.

Source:佚名