China to Finally Dole Out 3G Licenses

China’s homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G networks haven’t seen much in the way of adoption, but with the Ministry of Industry of Information opening up licenses and some $41 billion-worth of equipment purchacing in technologies, local carriers have a shot at really pushing wireless data services. China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) is already hooked into TD-SCDMA, but China Unicom will be awarded a license for a WCDMA network and China Telecom will get one for CDMA 2000 sometime early this year. This is great news for world roamers who would be unable to get their phones working in China, and opens the doors for hardware manufacturers looking to peirce the juicy Chinese market, but a lot of that will depend on how much more partners are willing to pitch in to develop those networks.

[via Reuters]