China May Delay 3G License Tender
China's plans to license 3G networks - widely expected to accompany a complete shakeup of the local market, are likely to be delayed for a couple of years an Ernst & Young partner was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.
Jonathan Dharmapalan, partner and head of Ernst & Young's global telecommunications centre in Beijing told the Shanghai Securities News that he expected the deployment of TD-SCDMA would mirror the rollout of GSM networks, where trials were run for a year and a half before the service was formally licensed. The country has just commenced its formal TD-SCDMA trials in several cities.
Dharmapalan also added that China may also launch licenses for the W-CDMA and CDMA2000 standards for 3G alongside TD-SCDMA, which matches long held opinions on the probable plans for 3G licensing in the country.
There could be another factor in the delay - and that is reports coming from people testing the TD-SCDMA phones are less than impressed with the service.
"The battery only works for one day after each charge, much less than my previous Nokia phone," journalist Irene Zhou, who paid US$400 for a Samsung TD-SCDMA phone told the Shanghai Daily. Zhou, who often takes out-of-town business trip, expects a phone battery to last for about three days. There were also complaints about coverage, although that is more forgivable in a trial network.
Posted to the site on 14th April 2008