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Datang Telecom Tries on CDMA
Pioneering efforts in CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, Datang Telecom and its German partner Siemens are hoping their achievements will become a golden goose in the next few years.
A nationwide trial for their standard TD-SCDMA (time division-synchronous CDMA) is scheduled for the first half of next year.
"Our technology is entering its maturity,'' said Zhou Huan, chairman of Datang and president of the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT).
Zhou said a small trial in Beijing recently was "very successful,'' paving the way for the nationwide trial.
The two firms have invested billions of US dollars in the research and development of 3G (third generation) telecom technology and their standard TD-SCDMA was approved by the global telecom organization International Telecom Union (ITU) as a worldwide standard this year.
Siemens said it is confident in the TD-SCDMA and plans to further increase investment in the project.
"TD-SCDMA will surely be adopted by China's telecom operators, the only risk is how big will the range be,'' said Yu Xiangguo, senior vice-president of Siemens China.
Yu said he expects the government to issue 3G licences in 2002 or the year after.
Compared with the other two international standards, the US-based CDMA 2000 and Europe-based WCDMA (wide-band CDMA), the home-grown standard is the youngest at only two years.
It is criticized by some telecom companies as "immature''.
"None of the three standards could be called mature, our only backlash is not technology but basic industry,'' said Li Shihe, a senior researcher with CATT.
Li, who is called "father of TD-SCDMA'', said the standard is rapidly upgrading.
In June, right after TD-SCDMA was approved by the ITU, Li said the standard had difficulty transmitting over 120 kilometres per hour, but now it can handle speeds up to 240 kilometres per hour.
"The number could be even higher but we are waiting for the following up of chip makers,'' Li said.
The researcher said TD-SCDMA-based products would debut in the first half of next year.
But Li also admitted that the technology is still two years away from full maturity, especially in lack of support from the world's major telecom manufacturers.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn
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