Sources: China is unlikely to issue 3G licenses before 2008

Caijing magazine has claimed in a new issue that the Chinese government is unlikely to issue licenses for 3G (third-generation) mobile services until the first quarter of 2008.

The report said that the China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII) will not issue the licenses until a new round of tests involving the homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G technology ends next year.

TD-SCDMA stands for time division synchronous code division multiple access.

The delay in the release of licenses for 3G technologies would give the TD-SCDMA and its backers enough time to close the gap with newer 3G technologies like the WCDMA (wideband CDMA) and CDMA2000 EV-DO (evolution data optimized).

China’s Minister of Information Industry, Wang Xudong had some time back claimed that the licenses for 3G in the country would be issued when Beijing hosts the Olympic Games in 2008.

If the Chinese government issues these licenses by the first quarter of next year, there would still be enough time for the mobile service providers to meet this goal.

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