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TD-SCDMA, a new technology for China Mobile subscribers (China)

July 16th, 2008
8:40 am

China Mobile has become the very first operator to secure the membership of the TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance (TDIA), as reported by Xinhua news agency.According to the reports last month, China’s Ministry of Information and Industry (MII) ordered China Mobile to sign-up more than 100 million subscribers to its TD-SCDMA services in the next three years. TD-SCDMA technology, a homegrown mobile standard that may be used as a commercial 3G technology once national licenses are allocated, will be tested by China Mobile across eight cities where TD-SCDMA networks will be deployed during the Beijing Olympic Games this August. TD-SCDMA is a rival 3G technology to globally deployed commercial standards W-CDMA and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to improve the sales of the device both before and during olympics, China Mobile intends to subsidise TD-SCDMA handsets, notes Digitimes. Sources of Digitimes state, that the operator will subsidise purchase of the handsets by US$146-219 (1,000-1,500 yuan) each, nearly 60% of the total price and China Mobile will able to “absorb” the cost of a few TD-SCDMA services during the Olympics. According to the reports, the operator placed an initial order of 60,000 handsets, and has recently finished a second procurement of 200,000 units. A third order of 40,000 handsets, incorporating China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting technology for mobile TV services, is reported to be planned.

Mobile, China, 3G, China Mobile, TD-SCDMA
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NSN to power China Mobile net expansion (China)

July 11th, 2008
1:46 pm

China Mobile has entered into a frame agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks to deliver its network expansion project.

Under the contract Nokia Siemens Networks will design, build, maintain and optimize the radio and core network for China Mobile, which will include the energy efficient Flexi base station, mobile softswitching and OSS in provinces and cities across China.

The framework is designed to enable China Mobile to increase its network capacity, while controlling capital and operating expenditure. The contract is valued at €550 million.

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1m illegal iPhones on China Mobile? (China)

July 9th, 2008
2:05 pm

Around 1 million iPhones have been illegally unlocked and brought into China to work on China Mobile’s network, a telecoms analyst told China’s Interfax news agency this week.

Kevin Li, an analyst with In-Stat China, says the number of unlocked iPhones potentially in use in China has more than doubled in the last six months (from around 400,000 in December 2007), a figure that does not include iPhones adapted to work on rival mobile network China Unicom.

According to official statistics, Apple had shipped 5.4 million iPhones globally by the end of first-quarter 2008, which means the 1 million illegal China Mobile devices could account for a sizable proportion of all iPhones in circulation.

Negotiations between China Mobile and Apple over an official launch of the iPhone reportedly broke down over Apple’s insistence on securing a portion of China Mobile’s iPhone revenue.

While Apple has abandoned this model for the launch of the new 3G version of the device, there are still no official Chinese launch plans. “With so many iPhone owners already using China Mobile’s services and driving up data traffic, China Mobile is probably in no rush to officially introduce the iPhone in China,” Li said.

Meanwhile, the 3G iPhone will debut with various operators in 22 countries on Friday.

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Mobile, China, 3G, China Mobile, China Unicom, Apple
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China Mobile Likely to First Launch 2G iPhone in China

July 1st, 2008
2:57 pm

China Mobile Ltd. (SEHK: 0941 and NYSE: CHL) is likely to introduce the 2G iPhone to China initially, said market observers.

China Mobile is in contacts with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which is not insisting on its revenue sharing business model, said Wang Jianzhou, chairman and chief executive officer for China Mobile, in an earlier interview.

Absence of the revenue sharing policy eliminated the biggest obstacle in the possible partnership between the two companies, and the remaining problems are some practical issues, said Rainie Lei, China Mobile spokeswoman. However, no timetable has been set for the rollout of the products and which version will be launched has not been decided yet, according to Ms. Lei.

It is not possible for Apple to debut TD-SCDMA iPhones in China when China’s homegrown 3G TD-SCDMA standard is still in the trials, predicted an analyst at Wanfang Consult. On the contrary, China Mobile has a well-developed 2G network and numerous high-end users who may be interested in the 2G iPhone.

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China Mobile adds net 7.49 mln new subscribers in May vs 7.41 mln in April (China)

June 20th, 2008
1:59 pm

China Mobile Ltd said it added 7.49 mln net new subscribers in May, bringing its overall subscribers to 407.04 mln at the end of last month.

In April, China’s dominant mobile operator added 7.41 mln subscribers.

The company has added a total of 37.7 mln new subscribers in the first five months of the year.

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Ericsson says did not bid for huge China Mobile deal (China)

June 19th, 2008
2:20 pm

Ericsson said it had not competed with Alcatel-Lucent for a 643 million euros (US$1 billion) deal with China Mobile which the French group signed this week.

A Reuters report quoted Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg as saying that the Swedish group had not been beaten to the deal, which is a framework agreement to provide mobile communication equipment and services.

“We weren’t competing for that order,” Svanberg told reporters at a meeting in Stockholm.

Svanberg had been asked about the deal, which had prompted a lengthy article in Swedish business daily Dagens Industri about how Ericsson’s rival had won the order.

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China Mobile’s upgrade bid (China)

June 18th, 2008
3:02 pm

China Mobile has invested heavily in upgrading networks to consolidate its leading position in both 2G and 3G eras, Shanghai Daily learned yesterday.

The world’s biggest mobile carriers by subscribers has signed two IT companies to upgrade the networks, including its trial 3G network, during Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan’s visit to the United States for the economic summit.

Alcatel-Lucent, the world’s biggest telecom equipment maker, said it had signed a 1 billion U.S. dollars framework agreement for 2008 with China Mobile to provide mobile communication equipment and services.

The agreement was secured through Alcatel-Lucent’s flagship company in China, Alcatel Shanghai Bell.

“We are delighted to be selected to continue providing solutions and services to China Mobile. China Mobile is one of our company’s main strategic cooperation partners,” Olivia Qiu, Alcatel Shanghai Bell’s president, said.

The agreement signing ceremony was witnessed by Wang in Washington.

Under the frame agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will provide China Mobile with mobile core and wireless network solutions, TD-SCDMA equipment, applications, transmission and IP router equipment and the related services.

Meanwhile, Sun Microsystems Inc also announced a framework agreement with China Mobile on IT products and services projects in 2008. Sun will provide China Mobile with IT products and relevant services at an estimated price of some 34.8 million dollars.

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Alcatel-Lucent, China Mobile sign billion-dollar deal (China)

June 17th, 2008
1:25 pm

US-French telecom equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent said Tuesday it had signed a one-billion-dollar agreement with China Mobile, the country’s largest mobile phone operator.

The signing ceremony, held in Washington Tuesday, was witnessed by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan who was in the United States for two days of cabinet-level economic talks, it said in a statement.

The deal “reinforces Alcatel-Lucent’s position as a trusted partner, as China Mobile relies upon our network solutions and services to meet their growing demand for mobile and now fixed services,” Alcatel Shanghai Bell president Olivia Qiu said in a statement.

In a long-anticipated industry overhaul announced last month, China Mobile will acquire fixed-line operator China Tietong Telecommunications Corp.

Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will provide China Mobile with mobile core network solutions, wireless network solutions, and equipment including those for China’s homegrown third generation mobile service standard TD-SCDMA.

State media has previously reported that China Mobile started commercial trials of the TD-SCDMA standard in eight cities in April.

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Shake-up pulls down Chinese telecom shares

June 4th, 2008
2:20 pm

Chinese telecom stocks dropped more than 12% after China Unicom unveiled 25.8 billion euros (US$40 billion) in deals, with investors cashing out amid lingering uncertainty over Beijing’s industry revamp, a Reuters report said.

Unicom, smaller rival to China Mobile , said it was paying 15.5 billion euros (US$24 billion) to take over fixed line peer China Netcom and selling its underperforming network to China Telecom for over 9.7 billion euros (US$15 billion), the report said.

The moves are aimed at speeding up the roll-out of high-speed, third-generation mobile services for China’s 1.3 billion people.

Shares in Unicom, domestic fixed-line leader China Telecom and smaller player Netcom slid between 12.7 and 14.1%, shedding nearly $15 billion of their value during the trading day, the Reuters report said.

“There’s been profit taking because people were expecting too much in terms of a reform for the whole industry,” said Y.K. Chan, a strategist at Phillip Securities, quoted by the Reuters report.

“Now investors are focusing on acquisitions and capex for these firms to build their networks,” Chan added. “People realize that China Mobile’s dominant position is not going to weaken in the short term and the other players have to pay a high cost to compete.”

Lehman Brothers analyst Paul Wuh estimated that China Telecom, which will buy Unicom’s Code Division Multiple Access network, will spend at least 30 billion yuan (US$4.33 billion) in 2009 and a similar amount in 2010 on that network.

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Google: Android Phones Coming This Year

June 3rd, 2008
2:51 pm

Google says it will have an Android-powered phone on the market in 2008, rebutting a source’s claims to the contrary.

According to a source familiar with the situation, although a large number of people are hard at work on the Gphone and the open-source operating system/platform for mobile devices (Android) the actual Gphone will not be ready for release this year.

That would mean that Apple’s second-generation iPhone, and the ever-growing list of about-to-be-released handsets (like the Garmin nuviphone, Research In Motion Blackberry Bold and Thunder, Sprint/Samsung Instinct and SonyEricsson Xperia) will now have a huge head-start over the Gphone.

However, a Google spokesperson says “We’re still on track to announce Android-powered phones this year. Some of our partners are publicly stating that they plan to ship Android phones in the fourth quarter.”

The source on the initial story would not speculate on the possibility that other devices that might run on variants of Android would be ready in time for the Christmas shopping season, nor would the source elaborate on exact reasons for the delay or a possible release date for the Gphone or various Android variants.

Android, based on the Linux operating system, is being jointly developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. The 34-member group includes mobile operators China Mobile, NTT DoMoCo, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, software companies , Google, Living Image, NMS, Nuance Communications, PacketVideo, SkyPop, semiconductor companies, Intel, Marvel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and handset manufacturers HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung.

Missing from this impressive list of Android companies are some very well-known cell-phone leaders AT&T, Nokia and Verizon’s Verizon Wireless.

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