China to begin home-grown 3G technology trial

China Mobile announce plans to commence commercial trials of China's 3G technology TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) on April 1. The carrier plans to set-up the commercial trials in eight cities across the country: including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Five of the soon-to-be 3G-enabled cities are hosting events for the Olympics this summer. The carrier plans to give 20,000 users handsets worth between $300 and $400 each and a data card free of charge. The initial handsets that will be used in the trial were made by China's Lenovo, Hisense, ZTE and New Postcom as well as South Korea's Samsung and LG.

For more on the trials:
- read this article from Xinua