Telecommunication News
- 3G handset tender due in October
Date: 4-Jun-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA will tender contracts in October worth 4 billion to 6 billion yuan (US$523-785 million) for handsets based on the country's homegrown third-generation (3G) mobile phone standard, its first big procurement offer, an industry group said Friday.
Eighteen companies are expected to bid for contracts offered by China Mobile, the world's largest wireless carrier, to make 2 million handsets based on the TD-SCDMA (time division synchronous code division multiple access) standard, said Chen Haofei, secretary general of the Beijing-based TD-SCDMA Forum.
Firms expected to bid include Shenzhen-based ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies, and Datang Telecom Technology , Samsung Electronics , LG Electronics , Motorola , as well as Haier Electronics Group Co.
'It is the first large-scale purchase, because it's reached one million to two million,'Chen said in a phone interview. He said it is still too early to say which company may get the biggest share of the tender.
The TD-SCDMA Forum was established in 2000 by eight firms - China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Datang, Huawei, Motorola, Nortel and Siemens - according to its Web site, to promote the standard.
After years of delay and with a potential US$10 billion of network gear orders in the balance, the government recently extended precommercial TD-SCDMA trials to 10 cities from five.
The extended 3G trial, which authorities said was necessary to ensure a smooth start-up of the data-rich standard, could last until the end of October, analysts have said.
China, which hopes to offer high-quality broadband Web access for visitors to the 2008 Olympics, is not expected to roll out 3G until later this year, or even next year, they added.
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