3g technology

Is China finally ready for 3G?

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Could it really be true? China reportedly is ready to issue 3G licenses after six years of promises and delays. While announcing it plans to restructure China's telecom service providers, China's regulators also announced that three 3G licenses will be granted once the restructuring is complete.

The Chinese government has been delaying the 3G process in a bid to get its home-grown standard, TD-SCDMA, up to par with WCDMA and CDMA 1xEV-DO. To date, the country's carriers have spent a significant amount of money on TD-SCDMA trials and may possibly offer services during the Olympic Games this summer.

The impending 3G awards should be good news for the world's vendors, which have been banking on China opening up the market to 3G and bolstering their businesses. There should be some aggressive fighting for contracts, especially when Huawei and ZTE have been fighting for market share outside of China.

For more about China's 3G plans:
- read this Unstrung article

Related stories:
- Analyst: China's 3G still years away. See this China 3G story
- China to begin home-grown 3G technology trial. See this TD-SCDMA story
- China continues to hedge on 3G. See this 3G in China story

With little fanfare, T-Mobile launches 3G in New York

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

As anticipated, T-Mobile USA has commercially launched its 3G UMTS/HSDPA network in New York City. The carrier said the service will support both voice and data services, despite the rumors that the initial launch would not support data. By the end of 2008, T-Mobile USA plans to rollout its network in major cities across the U.S. The carrier also announced plans to launch its first HSDPA device in the coming months.

Current Analysis characterized the rollout as frustrating: "We are taking a slightly negative stance on T-Mobile's upgrade to a 3G network, as the much delayed launch (planned since T-Mobile won spectrum in late 2006) was further impaired by the fact that it is available in only one market (New York), with a limited number of compatible handsets and with the complete absence of suitable applications or services that can truly take advantage of faster network speeds. This provides potential early adopters of 3G technology with much less incentive to use the new network," the firm said in a recent note.

For more on T-Mobile USA's 3G plans:
- check out this T-Mobile USA 3G press release

China Mobile moves ahead with TD-SCDMA

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

China Mobile announce plans to commence commercial trials of China's 3G technology TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) on April 1. The carrier plans to set-up the commercial trials in eight cities across the country: including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Five of the soon-to-be 3G-enabled cities are hosting events for the Olympics this summer. The carrier plans to give 20,000 users handsets worth between $300 and $400 each and a data card free of charge. The initial handsets that will be used in the trial were made by China's Lenovo, Hisense, ZTE and New Postcom as well as South Korea's Samsung and LG.

For more on the trials:
- read this article from Xinua

Related articles:
- Japan's IPMobile to flip from TD-CDMA to TD-SCDMA Report
- Viable 3G business case for China rests on TD-SCDMA Editorial

'4G' standards jockey for position

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:59:53 -0500

The International Telecommunication Union hasn't officially sanctioned 4G standards yet but chances are they will be based on OFDMA technology and they'll be Long Term Evolution (LTE), the migration path for W-CDMA, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), CDMA2000's path, and an advanced form of WiMAX since WiMAX was officially sanctioned as a 3G technology.

Verizon Wireless nailed its stake in the ground, committing to LTE to align itself with partner Vodafone. The operator's breakaway from its CDMA2000 path puts UMB in jeopardy since Sprint is committed to WiMAX. Since LTE is a 2009 story what type of momentum will WiMAX gain in the interim?

Related articles:
Nokia Siemens in joint LTE development with DoCoMo Report
LTE could bridge Verizon wireless, wireline Report

ALSO NOTED: First also noted headline; second headline; and much more...

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:59:51 -0400

> Clearwire launched VoIP service in six Texas markets. Release

> ABI Research expects more than 180,000 buildings will receive in-building broadband wireless systems by 2011. Article

> Netgear and Ubiquisys announced a deal to deliver a comprehensive residential gateway with integrated DSL modem, Wi-Fi, VoIP and 3G femtocell technology. Article

And Finally... Check out the poor man's iPhone.

NTT to begin testing WiMax

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:01:38 -0500

NTT, Japan's largest telecommunications group, will begin testing WiMax technology next month. Various NTT groups will work together on trials of WiMax technology. The tests will examine issues such as actual throughput and potential interference to other services. This may--emphasis on may--not be good news for 3G. Recently, NTT DoCoMo said it would push the 3G technology WCDMA to faster speeds. The plan was to have this Super 3G service offer data transmission rates as high as 100 Mbps and be available in metropolitan areas as soon as 2008.

It may well be the case that NTT is looking at WiMax to complement its Super 3G offering, but it may be the case that there is a less benign agenda here. NTT is in the midst of reorganizing its Internet services, including ADSL and WiFi, under a single company called NTT Broadband Platform. The company is taking infrastructure currently operated by NTT DoCoMo, long-distance and Internet operator NTT Communications, and the NTT East and NTT West local carriers and combining it to a single platform from which group companies can offer services.

For more on NTT's move:
- read this TechWorld report

ALSO: What exactly is the worldwide potential of WiMax? Analysis

SPOTLIGHT: Not so inscrutable Orient

Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:01:33 -0400

Ming Dong, sales and marketing group general manager at Beijing's Analysis International, says that WiMax and 3G will not compete with each other in China's growing market, but rather complement each other. Some analysts have predicted that WiMax will challenge 3G with bigger potential bandwidth, but much of the short-term focus and investment in bringing 3G technology to market in China means WiMax capabilities will be for improving fixed and mobile Internet rather than cell-phone customers. Report

Sony Ericsson shows WiFi-3G combo card

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 20:01:37 -0400

Sony Ericsson added to its line of wireless PC Cards with a card which brings WiFi and 3G mobile phone connectivity into the same unit. The company says that its GC99 card is among the very first such cards in the world, although a couple of other companies -- Belgium's Option, for one -- make similar claims. Sony Ericsson's card boasts a low-profile antenna housing and support for both 802.11g and 802.11a APs. In addition to WiFi and 3G, the GC99 offers regular GSM (quad-band) dial-up and GPRS packet-switched communications, the latter with EDGE support for better data rates.

Sony Ericsson says the card will not support the HSDPA 3G speed-boost technology. This is an interesting decision by Sony Ericson, as HSDPA will surely prove popular: It will increase 3G download speeds from 384 Kbps maximum to around 14.4 Mbps (there are some technical qualifications to this assertion). The GC99 will ship in the fourth quarter and work with both PCs and Macs.

For more on Sony-Ericsson's combo:
- see Tony Smith's TheRegister report