China confirms which Operators win 3G Licenses…

After what seemed like an age, China has now confirmed who is getting the long-awaited 3G licenses it has been promising. China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) has got a license for TD-SCDMA (the homegrown 3G tech from China), whereas China Telecm for a CDMA2000 3G license, and China Unicom got WCDMA.

Apparently the networks could spend up to $41bn over the next two years building out networks, or upgrading!

For me, the interesting (gold) nugget of info here is that there are three DIFFERENT standards for 3G being deployed – for sure, there’s reasoning behind this, but one thing it will definitely do is limit the “sharing” of transmitters that can easily occur – a feature becoming more and more prevalent in Europe. You’ve also got to wonder if the homegrown tech isn’t just going to win out anyway, given the backing it will have. Oh well, should be an interesting couple of years!

[Via: Cellular News]