3G Trial Scheduled in October

China will launch a large scale field trial to test its home-grown third generation technology, TD-SCDMA in October this year, according to its inventor.

Li Shihe, deputy chief engineer of Datang Telecom and Technology, said three Chinese operators -- China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Netcom -- together with an as-yet undecided fourth operator, will be involved in the trial.

The trial will be based on GSM systems and is expected to last for about a year. The first commercialized TD-SCDMA products are scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2002, according to Li.

In the second phase of TD-SCDMA product development, China will conduct a similar trial with IP networks at the end of this year. Commercial products from that trial are scheduled for release in 2003 or 2004, Li told visitors Wednesday at the 3G World Congress in Hong Kong.

One of the six 3G standards recognized by the International Telecommunication Union, TD-SCDMA is a joint effort between China Academy of Telecommunication Technology -- a major shareholder of Datang Group -- and Siemens of Germany.

Siemens has promised to pour US$100 million in the development of TD-SCDMA, while Datang has invested about several million dollars in the technology, according to Li.

Compared to the Europe-supported W-CDMA standard and the Qualcomm-backed cdma2000 technology, TD-SCDMA allows operators to build a 3G network with a comparatively low cost and to utilize 3G spectrum more efficiently, with technologies like smart antennas, joint detection and up-link synchronization, Li said.

In a move to promote TD-SCMA, Datang and Chinese carriers like China Mobile and China Telecom established the TD-SCDMA Forum last year, which has now over 200 members, including Nokia, Motorola, and Alcatel, as well as domestic Chinese vendors like ZTE Corp and Eastern Communications.

Given that TD-SCDMA is China's first-ever home-grown mobile technology, there is no doubt among industry observers that the Chinese government will give its full support to promote the technology in both domestic and international markets.

Li confirmed that China will definitely use W-CDMA, cdma2000 and TD-SCDMA in its wireless market, which is set to be the world's largest mobile market in few years.






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