China could leverage TD-SCDMA standard

China has a significant opportunity with its home-grown TD-SCDMA technology to establish a global communication standard, according to a new report from In-Stat.
The firm said TD-SCDMA technology could allow the country to own more intellectual property rights and consequently lower royalty fees and manufacturing costs. However, TD-SCDMA has made China’s road to third-generation networks complex, said the firm.
“The awarding of 3G licenses has been delayed due to the technological immaturity of TD-SCDMA,” says Kevin Li, In-Stat analyst. “In-Stat regards the current round of testing as the pre-commercial application that embodies the Chinese government’s preference for promoting TD-SCDMA’s development ahead of W-CDMA or CDMA2000.”
According to In-Stat, TD-SCDMA subscribers could number 52 million in China by 2011, with most of the growth occurring after 2008, if China Mobile gets a TD-SCDMA license.