TD-SCDMA.CO.UK

China Mobile, the country's largest cellphone operator, will next week launch the pre-commercial service of third generation (3G) mobile phone telephony based on a home-grown standard.

The TD-SCDMA service will be available in eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, starting from April 1, China Mobile said on Friday.

The roll-out of the pre-commercial service, which is seen as a prelude to the formal licensing of 3G mobile technologies in the country, means the government might be able to fulfill its promise of providing 3G services during the upcoming Olympics, which provide faster downloading speed and mobile Internet access.

SHANGHAI, China, March 28, 2008 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD), one of China's leading wireless baseband chipset providers, today reports that China Mobile (CMCC) has announced commercial deployment of TD-SCDMA technology beginning in April. TD-SCDMA is a 3G wireless network standard developed by the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT) in collaboration with Datang and Siemens and endorsed by the Chinese government.

Dr. Ping Wu, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are very excited with this key development in the commercialization and deployment of TD-SCDMA technology in China. Our friends, customers, and partners are also extremely pleased to see TD-SCDMA technology reach this milestone. Today's announcement demonstrates China Mobile's strong commitment to commercialize the TD-SCDMA technology and includes a host of measures to facilitate market acceptance of this technology including attractively priced calling plans, availability of six subsidized handset models, availability of USIM cards for consumers who purchase TD-SCDMA handsets through other channels, demo centers in eight cities, financial incentives for resellers, publicity campaigns, and after-sale customer support.

PEOPLE in Shanghai will be able to buy home-grown 3G phones next week, the first time they have been available on China's mainland.

Industry officials said last night the move highlighted the remarkable progress of China's 3G development and will hasten the process for the country's long-awaited issuing of 3G licenses.

LTE is the hottest buzz-acronym in the mobile industry. Those attending the Mobile World Congress (MWC) extravaganza in Barcelona last month were bombarded by messages from a variety of vendors (and some operators) saying the time for LTE, or long-term evolution, is drawing ever closer.

And with momentum apparently gathering for this all-IP mobile broadband technology (dubbed "4G" in some quarters), one possible interpretation is that time is running short for mobile WiMAX (which purports to occupy the 4G space now) to establish itself as a mainstream mobile broadband technology.