Tokyo Friendfinder
Despite China’s promise to have a 3G phone network in place by the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a bluster-filled announcement made yesterday only served to underline that commercial services will not be ready in time.
The National Development and Reform Commission used a telecoms expo to attempt to reassure doubters by saying that a 3G network using the home-grown TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) standard would be up and running during the Olympics after all.
However, the fact that the network will simply be a trial designed to showcase TD-SCDMA and that there are still no plans to issue essential 3G spectrum licenses to commercial operators merely underlines that the so-called ‘high-tech’ Olympics are looking decidedly old fashioned.
The deployment of TD-SCDMA has been delayed by technical uncertainties and bureaucratic hold-ups, meaning that there is still a slim possibility that China will eat humble pie for the duration of the games and offer a limited 3G service based on US or European standards, such as CDMA 2000 and W-CDMA.
(Crossposted to Tech.co.uk)
Hire us to write for you, consult on Japan tech and more.Click here and let us know what you need and maybe follow us on Twitter for all sorts of Japan adventuring.
01:35 AM 
Mark Hiratsuka •
Permalink
Events | Wireless 
Tagged with:
china
olympics
td-scdma
Add a comment | More DWT | Get a cool job in Japan! | Follow us on Twitter
Share this story online:
Or try the world's biggest matchmaking site:
Japanese gadgets from Tokyo Zakka! — Perfect gifts for your nerdiest friends back home!
Next entry: Sharp targets your bedroom with 22in 1080p LCD TV
Previous entry: Yahoo Japan fires up mobile YouTube rival
