The next generation: Will China
connect? By Todd W John
BANGKOK - China's Datang Telecom Technology
Group plans to invest more than US$120 million in
support of its third-generation-technology (3G) TD-SCDMA
in the next year. TD-SCDMA, or time division synchronous
code division multiple access, is an emerging wireless
standard being carefully eyed by markets in Europe and
North America after its recent acceptance as a standard
by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an
international standards organization for 3G
communication devices. The technology itself was
originally envisaged by US-based Qualcomm and then
developed by the China Academy of Telecommunications
Technology (CATT) in partnership with German-based
Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group (IC
Mobile). Siemens and CATT first successfully
demonstrated the technology more than a year ago in
Beijing to Chinese media and mobile network operators.
Qualcomm holds most CDMA technology patents, but
it may see few or no royalties from the technologies'
implementation. China is unlikely to honor weak
intellectual property rights over technology that was
primarily developed in Chinese laboratories. Qualcomm
surely remembers all too well intellectual property
disputes in South Korea that were thrown out for similar
claims. While the World Trade Organization offers a
forum for Qualcomm to seek remedy, it would be an
arduous route, forcing them to deal with delays in due
process and ever-changing whims of policy and politics.
And Datang Telecom and Siemens have both already stated
publicly that Qualcomm's claims are unenforceable.
Datang Telecom could reap a substantial reward
if it is successful with the TD-SCDMA technology in
China and beyond. China alone, as the world's largest
cellular market - some 180 million wireless subscribers
- stands to influence the standards of cellular markets,
especially in Third World and impoverished communities.
Middle Eastern, African and South and Central American
markets will likely follow suit with a successful
TD-SCDMA technological standard, seeking Chinese mobile
handsets and technology that are already 15-30 percent
less expensive on average than the GSM (global system
for mobile communication) equipment used in the West.
In support of the technology, the Chinese
government granted use of the 155Mbps spectrum for the
TD-SCDMA communication protocol, over and above the
120Mbps spectrum currently employed for the CDMA2000 and
WCDMA protocols. Datang has also effectively created a
technical alliance with major manufacturers to provide
all hardware production of chips, switches and handsets.
Proponents of competing technologies say
TD-SCDMA does not have the capacity or speed that their
technologies offer. However, these long-standing
concerns were refuted this week by Datang president Zhou
Huan, who said these shortcomings have been overcome.
Siemens agrees, and has earmarked another $50 million
with Datang over the next year for continued research
toward implementation.
China's
telecommunications industry would realize a substantial
influx of income from foreign sales if the technology
takes off in China and is viewed favorably by other
markets seeking alternatives to more costly CDMA2000 and
WCDMA systems. If positioned correctly, Chinese
telecommunications could become the wireless provider to
most of the world outside Europe and the United States.
