Motorola to Lay Base for 3G in ChinaMotorola will strengthen its ties with domestic software companies and mobile operators to lay a solid foundation for the next generation of wireless phone applications in China."We will continue our commitment to China not just by putting in more investment, but also through co-operation with Chinese companies to make them able to produce more advanced wireless Internet software and other products," said C. D. Tam, president of the Asia Pacific Region for Motorola. China enjoys the world's biggest market potential in the Internet mobile sector, and the market is expected to more than double within the next five years, said Tam. Motorola is planning to promote the GPRS (general packet radio system) in China next year. It has already co-operated with China Unicom, one of the mainland's two wireless operators, to forward the first commercial implementation of the GPRS in Shenzhen in August on a trial basis. The GPRS enables high-speed access to Internet-based content and services via a mobile terminal and will be much faster than the GSM (global system for mobile communications). To ensure the smooth development of the technology and relative applications, the company has joined hands with Cisco to build the Invisix Centre of Excellence in Beijing, which is expected to open in March. The centre will give training, tests and consultations to mobile carriers in Internet-based network management, designing and communication solutions. The centre involves an initial investment from the two companies of about US$1 billion. Several domestic operators have expressed their interest in using the centre to test and demonstrate the GPRS and WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) applications. The Chinese Government has promised a quicker pace of opening up for the telecommunications sector to catch up with the advanced levels of other countries through Sino-foreign co-operation in product and technology development. But Tam said the government policy regarding third generation technology (3G) should be clearer so that the country can enter the next generation of wireless application earlier. "We are ready to provide our solutions when the door is opened," Tam said while attending the International Telecommunications Union Telecom Asia 2000 in Hong Kong.(China Daily) |
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