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Published On: Mar 16, 2007 11:12 AM
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Published On: Mar 16, 2007 11:12 AM
China Mobile Not Going Gently into the TD-SCDMA Night
In the
Hutong
Feeling warmer watching "Deadliest Catch"
2015 hrs.
Feeling warmer watching "Deadliest Catch"
2015 hrs.
A lot of people I talk to seem to be walking
around in shell-shock after spending a punishing week in Hong Kong at either
International
Telecommunications Union World 2006 over by the airport or 3G World
Congress in town, or madly shuttling between both for five
days.
Will laments that the ITU show was a huge letdown, and that's not just fatigue talking. I talked to him early yesterday, and he seems to think that much of the problem is rooted in the unspoken anticipation that China would use the show to make an announcement about 3G licenses.
While we tut-tut knowingly about second guessing the Chinese government or trusting the rumor mill, a bigger question pops up - why didn't China take an opportunity to announce something?
A clue pops up on the radar on Xinhua Financial News via Forbes (thanks Fons) in the form of a quote from China Mobile Deputy General Manager Dai Zhong:
Will laments that the ITU show was a huge letdown, and that's not just fatigue talking. I talked to him early yesterday, and he seems to think that much of the problem is rooted in the unspoken anticipation that China would use the show to make an announcement about 3G licenses.
While we tut-tut knowingly about second guessing the Chinese government or trusting the rumor mill, a bigger question pops up - why didn't China take an opportunity to announce something?
A clue pops up on the radar on Xinhua Financial News via Forbes (thanks Fons) in the form of a quote from China Mobile Deputy General Manager Dai Zhong:
"'We think that W-CDMA is better
for China Mobile. TD is a Chinese 3G standard, so we should support this
network, but we have the largest GSM network in China,' Dai
said."
Awesome.
Despite suggestions elsewhere that China
Mobile has caved-in to government pressure, the world's mobile giant still
appears to be fighting a rearguard action against having the unproven,
un-finalized, problem-ridden, politically-driven TD-SCDMA shoved down its
throat.
Money is power everywhere, and Beijing is no
longer an exception to that rule. China Mobile is that
rara
avis: a very large state-owned
enterprise that is listed offshore, leads the local market, and is spinning
cash. It would be a huge mistake to underestimate the implicit clout CMCC
carries as it pleads its case at the MII, the Ministry of Commerce, the National
Development Reform Commission and elsewhere in town. TD-SCDMA developer Datang
just doesn't punch that kind of weight.
China Mobile wants W-CDMA, and it will fight
to the burger to get it. In China's 3G evolution, bet on that, not on the whims
of a coalition of techno-nationalists at the MII.
Posted: Sat - December 9, 2006 at 09:28 PM