Xi Guohua, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, says that China will issue 3G mobile licenses and certificates after the restructuring of the six big Chinese telecommunications operators.
The reorganization is expected to be completed in about six months.
At present, there are three 3G standards: TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and CDMA2000. According to the restructuring plan, it is estimated that China Mobile will get TD-SCDMA, China Telecom will get CDMA2000 and the new China Unicom will get WCDMA.
In regards to whether foreign visitors to the Beijing Olympic Games can use their WCDMA and CDMA2000 mobile phones, Xi says that foreign visitors will not be able to use their WCDMA and CDMA2000 EVDO mobile phones in China, because China has not issued the license for the third-generation mobile phones. But TD-SCDMA will be an exception. As a test for enlarging the network of TD-SCDMA and to fulfill the country's promise to provide 3G services during the Olympic Games, China Mobile will launch a TD-SCDMA service during the Olympic Games, which is also available for foreign visitors who want to rent special mobile phones.
China Mobile says that the company will offer at least 20,000 3G handsets for hire during the Olympic Games.
Started from 2007, the commercial trials of TD-SCDMA network have been operated in six Olympic cities and four non-Olympic cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Tianjin. So far, the TD-SCDMA network in the trial cities has covered over 95% of the GSM network, a dominant 2G technology in China.
"foreign visitors will not be able to use their WCDMA and CDMA2000 EVDO mobile phones in China, because China has not issued the license for the third-generation mobile phones."
If people cannot use their WCDMA mobile phones during the whole olympics, does that mean WCDMA may not be available until September or beyond? Does that also mean that the 3G iPhone will not be officially released in China until WCDMA is confirmed and in place?