China's telecom sector gets 3G licenses

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-07 21:00

There could be about 280 billion yuan of direct investment in new networks over the next two years, MIIT minister Li Yizhong said on December 19.

The network investment would lead to 2 trillion yuan in private-sector investment in the next two or three years, said Chen Jinqiao, deputy chief engineer of the MIIT's telecommunications research institute.

An unidentified official with China Mobile said the market leader would make the development of TD-SCDMA its top priority. China Mobile had already started construction of new networks to cover all cities by 2011.

The government sees the development of 3G networks as an important step in boosting domestic demand and optimizing telecom market competition.

Industry analysts predicted fierce competition for 3G market share among the three carriers.

While WCDMA and CDMA2000 are viewed as having more mature 3G technology that's available around the world, the domestically developed TD-SCDMA has a government pledge of "strong support."

An on-line survey at Sina.com on Wednesday found that 65 percent of the 130,000 respondents said they would choose 3G network service.

China Mobile leads the domestic telecom market with more than 400 million mobile users, two-thirds of the total.

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