IHS Inc. The Source for Critical Information and Insight
Electronics |  Change

Advanced Search
 
 

ABI: TD-SCDMA Surfaces into Commercial Daylight

July 2, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

 
Electronics & Telecom Docs
IHS sells a full selection of standards documents & collections from the industry's top organizations.
To learn more, and for a free quote, please complete the form below.
TIA Collection
NEMA Collection
CEA Collection
EIA Collection
ITU Collections
IEEE Collections
EU EMC Collections
IEC Collections
First Name:

Last Name:

Email address:
After years of R&D and many trials conducted by China Mobile, the third generation (3G) time division - synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) service made an April 2008 soft launch in eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

"Though China's government has yet to issue its 3G licenses and telecom restructuring is still ongoing, TD-SCDMA is now live," said ABI Research analyst Hwai Lin Khor.

According to ABI Research, China Mobile also opened TD-SCDMA "experience shops" in these major cities to allow the public to experiment with TD-SCDMA handsets and gain confidence with TD-SCDMA's capabilities, in the hopes of attracting subscribers.

In order to make TD-SCDMA service an incremental upgrade from existing subscriptions, analysts said China Mobile is charging TD-SCDMA subscribers monthly subscription fees of 50 renminbi (RMB), or $7 per month, and 0.6 RMB, or 9 cents per minute, for video calls, while mobile Internet usage will be based on a flat rate with a capped usage plan.

Charges for voice calls, short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS) and additional data traffic are maintained at the same rate as existing plans. Analysts said value-added services already available for second and a half generation (2.5G) subscribers, including a wireless music club, mobile newspaper and mobile wallet, are also accessible to TD-SCDMA subscribers at the same rate but with an improved user experience.

"China Mobile is planning to roll out 3G-specific services such as mobile TV, video sharing applications, video conferencing, etc. progressively during 2008," said Hwai. "ABI Research believes this price plan and service package will attract existing young subscribers to make the switch."

During this initial launch, 60,000 dual-mode TD-SCDMA/ global system for mobile communication (GSM) handsets and 15,000 data cards will be on sale in China Mobile's TD-SCDMA experience shops, from popular brands such Samsung, LG Electronics, Hisense, Lenovo, Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company (ZTE) and Postcom.

Analysts said these handsets are in the mid- to high-end range with built-in camera, wide screen and extensive multimedia applications. China Mobile is selling these phones for subsidized prices of 2,000 RMB ($286) - 4,000 RMB ($572).

"Now is when the real test kicks in, gauging TD-SCDMA's performance under conditions of mass and varied mobility usage," Hwai said.

Source: ABI Research.

ELECTRONICS & TELECOM STANDARDS & REGULATIONS NEWS
November 19, 2008
ABI: Nearly 700M Wireless Video, Audio Connectivity Products to Ship in 2013
Shipments of four classes of wireless audio and video connectivity products for the home, which amount to 150 million this year, are expected ... more
November 19, 2008
IDC: IPTV to Grow More than 100% in Central, Eastern Europe in 2008
Despite limited uptake of Internet protocol television (IPTV) in previous years, total IPTV subscriber connections in Central and Eastern Europe ... more
November 17, 2008
TIA Issues Standard Specifying Media Adaptation Layer for TM3 Systems - TIA 1130
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) issued TIA 1130 - Forward Link Only Media Adaptation Layer Specification for Terrestrial Mobile ... more
November 17, 2008
TIA Issues Network Model for Evaluating Multimedia Transmission over IP - TIA 921-A
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) issued TIA 921-A - Network Model for Evaluating Multimedia Transmission Performance Over Internet ... more
November 17, 2008
CDMA2000 Operators to Deploy LTE, Mobile WiMAX to Complement 3G Networks
Code division multiple access (CDMA) operators will be among the first to complement their third generation (3G) networks with orthogonal frequency-division ... more
Show All..