China Mobile

China to award 3G licenses

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:19:31 -0500

China will issue 3G licenses in early 2009, which it expects to generate $29 billion, according to Li Yizhong, the Minister for Industry and Information Technology. The country is giving licenses to China Mobile for TD-SCDMA technology, to China Unicom for WCDMA technology and to China Telecom for CDMA 2000. Article

Handset makers woo China Mobile

Jim Barthold — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:12:57 -0500

Handset makers Nokia, Motorola and Sony-Ericsson are talking with China Mobile about building devices to run on the carrier's "homegrown" third generation TD-CDMA networks. And if that isn't enough, the busy carrier said it was in talks with Apple to launch the iPhone in China as well.

China's billions of potential subscribers have vendors drooling over the prospects of the network rollout that will begin in the middle of 2009, even if it requires a little extra work to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

China Mobile chairman WAN Jianzhou sounds like he's one tough cookie when it comes to handsets, having reportedly said, "With TD-CDMA one headache now is that the available handsets are just not of good enough quality." Wang further said customers in network trials complained about dropped lines, which he blamed on the handsets, not the network.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
China Mobile may launch Android phone
LTE can't come soon enough for China Mobile

China Mobile may launch Android phone

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:54:44 -0400

China Mobile may become the first Asian carrier to distribute a phone based on Google's Android software, according to numerous reports.

Wired is reporting that China Mobile, which has over 410 million subscribers, may jump first at the prospect of landing an Android phone in Asia having previously sought to get an HTC-made device into the market before the end of the year. China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo and Japanese telecom KDDI are all members of the Open Handset Alliance, which has made a big push for Android.

The T-Mobile G1, which was unveiled last week, is scheduled to launch in the United States on Oct. 22, and in European markets in early 2009.

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
China Mobile wants to test LTE ASAP
China Mobile subscriber tally tops 414.5M

China Mobile subscriber tally tops 414.5M

Sue Marek — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:07:26 -0400

China Mobile reported its second-quarter subscriber tally has grown to 414.6 million, up from 332.4 million the prior year. In addition, the company's net profits increased 45 percent to $8.01 billion. The company gave little insight into its TD-SCDMA developments, only saying it will integrate its existing 2G network with the 3G network. The company's parent, China Mobile Communications, is testing TD-SCDMA in 10 cities. Article (sub. req.)

China Unicom will spend $14.6B on 3G

Sue Marek — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:22:50 -0400

China Unicom is forking over big bucks to build a 3G wireless network across China. The company said it will spend $14.58 billion over the next two years to build the network which will use a 3G spectrum license that the company expects to get as part of its merger with China Netcom Group.

The merger between the two firms is being driven by government regulators as part of an industry restructuring announced in May. Chinese regulators have said they will issue three nationwide 3G licenses. Recipients are expected to be China Mobile, China Telecom and China Netcom.

Analysts have said that Qualcomm is likely to benefit from China Unicom's plans because it will probably be one of the suppliers.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
China's operators move ahead with restructuring
China Unicom buys China Netcom for $24B

Nokia Siemens scores a deal with China Mobile

Sue Marek — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:25:37 -0400

Nokia Siemens Networks won a $864 million contract to design, build and maintain China Mobile's wireless network. The deal includes base stations and switches and will allow China Mobile to expand its network into key provinces and cities. Last month, Alcatel-Lucent's announced a $1 billion deal with China Mobile

The contract is a big win for Nokia Siemens as competition heats up in the infrastructure segment. Avian Securities analyst Matt Thornton says that despite this win for Nokia Siemens, Avian still expects a challenging environment for infrastructure manufacturers and forecasts flat growth in the near-term.

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
China Mobile subscribers up 23 percent
China Mobile to issue TD-SCDMA tender after Olympics

Wireless: it's complicated

Sue Marek — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:00:46 -0400

It appears Google is learning a hard lesson about wireless--the cell phone industry is very complex and difficult to negotiate. Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal reported that the firm's Android software suite will likely not show up on handsets until late 2008, as opposed to its original plans to debut Android in the second half of the year. T-Mobile USA reportedly won't deliver its Android-powered phone until fourth quarter, Sprint and China Mobile will likely be delayed with their Android-powered phones until late 2008 or early 2009.

While some argue that this isn't really a delay, Android never expected to make its debut earlier than year-end, the gist of the story--that Google underestimated the complexity of the wireless industry--is interesting to me. Why? Because I've heard it so many times before.

When mobile TV was first getting its legs, hundreds of content firms contacted me to tell me about how they were going to deliver their video content to cell phones. Many of those companies are no longer around because they underestimated the complexity of the wireless industry. Getting their technology to work across the many different networks and devices proved more costly and cumbersome than any had anticipated.

The same can be said for the big brand names that launched wireless services as mobile virtual network operators. Even though they had the foresight to realize that building a wireless network was too expensive and too complex, Mobile ESPN, Disney Mobile, Amp'd and now Helio (see related story below) vastly under-estimated how expensive and difficult it is to market and distribute wireless services to consumers, in a market that is already saturated with well-known incumbents.

As the mobile Internet begins to take flight, I suspect that many of Internet heavyweights will begin to realize what Google is learning--the mobile Internet is not the traditional Internet and yes, wireless is complicated. Newcomers to the industry need to have deep pockets and patience if they want to succeed in wireless. --Sue

China Mobile to issue TD-SCDMA tender after Olympics

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:03:52 -0400

China Mobile Communications is expected to issue a tender for the second phase of its TD-SCDMA rollout but will wait until the Olympic games are over. According to an article in the South China Morning Post, China Mobile is being forced to stick with the homegrown technology, despite reports that China Mobile isn't so enamored with it. Meanwhile, rivals China Unicom and China Telecom will be allowed to use EV-DO or WCDMA to compete in the 3G market.

The 2008 Olympics are also expected to play a big role in TD-SCDMA's future, as the country looks to showcase its 3G capabilities there and demonstrate to the world how modern it is. China Mobile has been trialing TD-SCDMA in eight cities since April 1.

"China Mobile will not expand the network to other cities before the Olympics," said Fok Tung-ling, chairman of Comba Telecom Systems Holdings, one of the equipment suppliers to China Mobile's TD-SCDMA networks. He added that the "next phase of the TD-SCDMA network expansion will not be limited to the existing 10 cities, and is likely to be aggressively rolled out on the mainland."

During its initial launch, 60,000 dual-mode TD-SCDMA/GSM handsets and 15,000 data cards will be on sale in China Mobile's TD-SCDMA experience shops, ranging in brands such as Samsung, LG, Hisense, Lenovo, ZTE, and Postcom. These handsets are in the mid- to high-end range with a built-in camera, wide screen and multimedia applications. China Mobile is believed to be selling these phones for subsidized prices between $286 and $572.

For more:
- read Cellular-News

Related stories:
Too good to be true? China plans to issue 3G licenses. Chinese 3G editorial
China Mobile moves ahead with TD-SCDMA. TD-SCDMA story

China Unicom buys China Netcom for $24B

Sue Marek — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:26:19 -0400

As part of the restructuring of China's state-controlled telecom industry, wireless operator China Unicom will acquire fixed line operator China Netcom in a share swap valued at about about $24 billion and will sell two of its smaller wireless properties to fixed line operator China Telecom and its parent for nearly $16 billion in cash.

The new deals will create more competition for China Mobile, which is currently the largest wireless carrier in the world with 400 million subscribers. China Unicom, with only 160 million subscribers, has been constrained because it had to operate two separate nationwide networks using different technologies. That burden will likely be lifted as it is selling the less profitable of two networks.

For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

Related article:
Is China finally moving to 3G? Read this article on China's telecom restructuring.

China's operators move ahead with restructuring

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:09:28 -0400

China's operators are moving ahead with the country's planned restructuring of the telecoms sector, swapping assets and making acquisitions via agreements worth billions. China Unicom announced China Telecommunications Corp. is purchasing Unicom's CDMA business for about $15.9 billion, creating one of the world's largest operators with more than 43 million CDMA customers and more than 216.3 million fixed-line subscribers, including 38.4 million broadband customers.

In a deal valued at $56.3 billion, Unicom is also merging its GSM business, which supports about 125.4 million subscribers, with fixed-line operator China Netcom, an operator that has about 109 million customers. Each share in Netcom will be swapped for 1.508 Unicom shares.

In another merger, mobile giant China Mobile Communications, which supports almost 400 million subscribers, is combining with fixed-line operator China TieTong Telecommunications.

The question now is: Will we begin to see tenders for 3G networks? China's regulators recently promised three 3G licenses will be tendered once restructuring is complete.

For more on this story:
- read Unstrung

Related stories:
Too good to be true? China plans to issue 3G licenses. China editorial
China continues to hedge on 3G. China 3G story

Wireless carriers among top brands worldwide

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Millward Brown has released its annual BrandZ ranking of the world's 100 most powerful brands based on dollar value across all industries and the collective brand of worldwide wireless carriers rose 35 percent since last year. China Mobile leads the wireless carriers in brand equity and fifth across all brands worldwide. Vodafone came out in second place among service providers while Verizon Wireless came in third. AT&T, T-Mobile and Movistar also made the top ten carriers list--check out the complete chart below:

For more on the ranking:
- read this BrandZ mobile service providers release

DEALS: Vendors hash out LTE licensing

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:59:52 -0400

DEALS
WHO	WITH	WHAT	SCOOP
Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC	NextWave, Nokia, Nokia Siemens, Sony Ericsson	Committed to IPR licensing framework for LTE	Where is Qualcomm and InterDigital?
Ericsson	China Mobile, China Unicom	Ericsson inked $1.44 billion worth of deals in China	The vendor inked a $1.33 billion deal with China Mobile and a $140 million one with China Unicom.
STMicro	NXP	STMicro plans to merge its wireless chipsets biz with NXP's	STMicro is set to pay NXP $1.55 billion for an 80 percent stake in the JV and the option to buy the other 20 percent after three years.

Ericsson inks $1.44 billion in China equipment deals

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Ericsson has inked two big deals in China that are worth a combined $1.44 billion to the vendor: China Mobile inked a $1.3 billion contract with the company while China Unicom inked a $140 million deal. Ericsson will provide China Mobile with core and radio equipment as well as related technical support to expand the carrier's GSM/GPRS rollout in 19 regions across China. Ericsson is also providing China Unicom with its GSM networks in 10 regions around the country, including Beijing, which is a new market for the vendor.

For more on the Ericsson China deals:
- read this article from MarketWatch

ALSO NOTED: FiberTower CEO; China Mobile on iPhone; and much more...

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> FiberTower names Kurt Van Wagenen new CEO. Article

> Virgin Mobile promotes David Messenger to chief administrative and corporate development officer. Release

> MediaFLO trials automobile TV. Article

> MobiTV launches optimized delivery server. Article

> China Mobile: Still no iPhone talks. Article

And Finally... LG inks its first movie tie-in: Iron Man. Article

Huawei announces plans for 700 MHz band

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:56:31 -0400

Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies announced its products for the 700 MHz band will become available in the first quarter of 2009 as the vendor makes its big push in the U.S. market.

Huawei said it will provide network solutions for UMTS, CDMA and LTE technologies for the 700 MHz band. Multi-band operation will be supported with concurrent operation in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz, Advanced Wireless Services and 1900 MHz spectrum bands.

Using software defined radios, the base station portfolio will support dual-mode operation for CDMA + LTE and UMTS + LTE technologies, allowing operators to carry out smooth network evolution from UMTS or CDMA to LTE, said Huawei.

In an interview with FierceWireless, Charlie Martin, CTO-Wireless, said Huawei plans to become an aggressive player in the U.S. market. "The U.S. market is very strategic for us," he said. "Our goal is to be the premier vendor in the world. We can't do that without the U.S. We are totally committed to this marketplace."

Martin said its win last summer to deploy CDMA EV-DO networks for Leap Wireless was an important way to get the vendor's foot in the door of the U.S. market. Huawei so far has completed phase one with Leap, deploying three markets. It is now embarking on a bigger deployment in the second phase since the deployment includes Chicago.

Huawei has gained momentum in Europe, inking deals with carriers including Telecom Italia, Vodafone's Spanish unit, China Mobile's Pakistani unit and New Zealand Communications. In January, Huawei won a contract from O2 Germany to install some 8,000 base stations. This is the second contract Huawei has racked up in Germany in as many months; in December T-Mobile International engaged the Chinese firm to provide next generation packet switched core networks infrastructure in five European countries: Germany, the U.K., Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

"Our value proposition is high quality and innovation," Martin said. "We are spring boarding off of what we've done in other countries to bring them to the U.S."

Interestingly, Huawei is not targeting WiMAX in the U.S. as it missed out on a deal with Sprint since the vendor hadn't arrived in the U.S. market in time. "We view WiMAX as different from CDMA and LTE in terms of the fact that WiMAX is a good alternative for emerging markets and alternative operators," Martin said.

The U.S. infrastructure market has historically been a difficult one to crack given the fact that infrastructure deals have been largely wrapped up, business cycles are longer and the business development process requires that vendors spend a lot of time marketing their wares, Martin said. But the 700 MHz and AWS bands are providing new opportunity.

"Last year vendors told us it wasn't the right time to talk," Martin said. "Now they want to talk. They aren't guaranteeing anything, but they definitely are ready to talk."

China to begin home-grown 3G technology trial

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

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

China Mobile subscribers up 23 percent

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

China Mobile beat analyst expectations by increasing its net profit 32 percent, thanks to some 68 million new subscribers added during 2007. Net profit grew to about $12.32 billion for the year. Subscribers totaled 369.34 million at the end of 2007, up from 301.23 million at the end of 2006.

"The continued rapid growth in China's economy, rising consumer purchasing power and the development of the rural economy is driving tremendous demand for communication and information services," said China Mobile chairman and CEO Wang Jianzhou.

For more on China Mobile's growth:
- read this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)

Related Articles:
China Mobile in talks for iPhone deal Article
400K unlocked iPhones on China Mobile's network Article

ALSO NOTED: Motricity restructures; Vodafone's MMS-based search; and much more...

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> Cricket Wireless plans to add 100 jobs. Article

> China Mobile CEO still interested in iPhone. Article

> OpenMoko releases service that lets users design the body of a phone, too. Article

> Motricity restructures and returns to its carrier-focus. Article

> Yahoo debuts mobile content management system. Article

> Microsoft inks Silverlight deal with Nokia. Article

> Vodafone demos an image-based mobile search application. Article

And Finally... Ofcom vows to take action after a couple is charged thousands for downloading four episodes of Friends onto their mobile. Article

Report: China to consolidate telecoms into 3 firms

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the Chinese government may consolidate its six telecom firms into three as part of a restructuring of the telecom industry in that country. The restructuring would allow the three remaining state-run companies to offer a full range of services instead of being divided into fixed-line, mobile or other groups. The move would affect China Mobile, China Unicom and China Netcom. Analysts expect a final decision on the restructuring by the end of March.

For more on the report:
- read the article over at the WSJ

China Mobile adds 7M subscribers in Jan.

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

The largest mobile carrier in the world added an additional 7 million subscribers last month: China Mobile's total subscriber count now stands at 376.38 million. The record 7.04 million subscribers added in January tops the 6.6 million new subscribers added in December.

For more on China Mobile:
- see this blurb from MarketWatch