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China Mobile keen to launch 3G
services
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UNDETERRED by
Europe's recent retreat from third-generation, or 3G, wireless
technology, China Mobile Communications Corp. said yesterday
it is keeping its plan to start offering 3G services in 2004.
"We are not postponing. We are still sticking to the
schedule," Vice-President Li Yue told the 3G Mobile
International Summit.
He said the company's timetable
calls for regional trials of 3G services next year, followed
by the launch of formal commercial services in 2004.
State-owned China Mobile, the parent of China Mobile (Hong
Kong) Ltd., is the largest mobile network operator in the
world's largest mobile market, and as such its decisions are
critically important to suppliers of 3G equipment like Telefon
AB LM Ericsson.
Li cautioned that China Mobile's schedule
for the launch of 3G's high-speed wireless data services, like
video phone calls and music downloads, depends in part on
whether suppliers can provide it with systems that are
"mature."
He said China Mobile is still planning to use
the 3G technology known as WCDMA, or wideband code division
multiple access, which has been chosen by European
governments.
But Li said he couldn't rule out the
possibility that, under "special circumstances," China Mobile
could choose a rival technology, CDMA2000.
But a bigger
worry for China Mobile is finding enough paying customers for
3G's newfangled services.
The company's existing
high-speed data service, based on a technology called GPRS,
has some of the same features as 3G, but Li said subscriber
growth hasn't met expectations.
"The penetration and usage
of GPRS is very poor because we don't have killer
applications," Li said. He later added that China Mobile now
has about 3 million GPRS subscribers.
Li said China Mobile
has no plans to follow the lead of its smaller rival, China
United Telecommunications Corp., and start subsidizing users'
purchases of handsets as a way of increasing its subscriber
base.
Instead, Li said China Mobile plans a new offering
which it hopes will prime demand for high-speed data services
ahead of the 3G launch.
Using a technology called wireless
local area network, or WLAN, in conjunction with its GPRS
service, China Mobile will this year start offering government
and corporate users nationwide wireless network access for
notebook and handheld computers.
Li said China Mobile has
already started offering versions of this service to Customs
and the police, enabling roving officials to keep in constant
contact with their internal databases.
"Previously we were
a high-growth mobile provider. Now we will change into an
information service provider," Li said.(SD-Agencies)
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