Monday, June 11, 2007
Even though interest in 3G is intensifying, China Mobile highlighted the continuing importance of 2G services in the country by signing a $1 billion deal on Sunday with Ericsson AB.
The announcement of the deal in Sweden coincided with a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao, and Ericsson noted that deliveries of core and radio network equipment had already begun.
China Mobile, the country's largest telco, is expected to launch 3G services in late 2007 or early 2008, using a Chinese technology known as TD-SCDMA. Once this new 3G technology gets a foothold, other Chinese operators will launch rival services based on CDMA2000 EV-DO and WCDMA.
The progress of 3G is being keenly watched in China, if only because it is the world's largest wireless telecom market. But because recent growth in China is being driven by less wealthy second- and third-tier cities, there is still a need to improve and expand 2G services coverage. Ericsson said its equipment will be used to boost China Mobile's GSM coverage in 19 regions of China.
Companies like Ericsson and Nokia-Siemens dominate the legacy networks in China, while local firms like Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. are expected to get a larger share of contracts for 3G infrastructure.
By: DocMemory
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