China salutes TDSCDMA wireless standard

China Friday declared that TD-SCDMA technology is an officially backed standard for third-generation (3G) mobile-telephone service.

The salute from telecom regulators in Beijing coincided with the announcement that a stand-alone wireless network for TD-SCDMA would be constructed with the goal of being operational before the 2008 Olympics.

TD-SCDMA (Time Division - Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) was developed in China and has been competing with western WCDMA and CDMA2000 technologies to be the dominant 3G standard in the booming Chinese market. Telecom officials said TD-SCDMA was "'already mature and ready for manufacturers to move ahead with production," the Xinhua news agency reported. Analysts told Xinhua that the move paves the way for the issuance of 3G licenses to wireless operators later this year. China Telecom has been heavily into TD-SCDMA technology and is considered a shoo-in for one of the coveted licenses. Copyright 2006 by United Press International