Operators in India and China await 3G approval

Operators in India and China are waiting for government approval to roll out 3G (third-generation) mobile services based on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), according to an industry group that backs the technology.

In China, mobile operators and equipment makers have long waited for the government to issue licenses for 3G services. In the meantime, operators such as China Mobile Communications (China Mobile) have built trial 3G networks to prepare for the eventual rollout of commercial services, widely expected before Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympics.

The country’s second-largest mobile operator, China United Telecommunications Co. (China Unicom), which now operates a CDMA2000-1X network, is ready to roll out services based on CDMA2000-1X EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized), which offers much faster data speeds than its current network.

“China Unicom is ready to launch that network,” said James Person, chief operating officer of the CDMA Development Group, an industry group that promotes CDMA technology. The only factor holding them back is government approval for 3G licenses, he said.

Indian operators Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices are also waiting for the go ahead to roll out 3G services based on EV-DO, Person said. Approval from India’s Department of Telecommunications could come as soon as next month, he said.

Indian licenses for 3G services have been held up by issues related to how the radio spectrum is allocated, said Kunal Bajaj, director of telecommunication consulting company BDA Connect (India), in Delhi.

While Indian government ministers have been meeting to discuss how to resolve the impasse, so far been no decision has been reached on 3G licenses. However, some observers expect a decision to be made this quarter, but not necessarily this month. “The expectation is that March may be a more reasonable time frame,” Bajaj said.

When China’s Ministry of Information Industry will issue 3G licenses is also not clear. The government has not issued a timeline for when it expects to issue the license, leading observers to speculate the licenses will come when China’s homegrown 3G technology — TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous CDMA), which is now in testing — is ready for commercial deployment.