China's 3G ready for commercial use, says report

China's own technology for 3G mobile phones is ready for large-scale commercial use, a Financial Times article, cited by an AFP report said.

The Financial Times report quoted Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE as saying that equipment based on the Beijing-backed TD-SCDMA standard for 3G telecoms services could now operate comparably with that of the rival European-led W-CDMA standard and the US-favored cdma2000, the AFP report said.

'Can TD-SCDMA now operate as an independent network‾ "&brkbar; We reckon that is no problem. Are there suitable handsets‾ "&brkbar; We reckon we can provide the handsets,' ZTE president Yin Yimin was also quoted as saying. 'Now it is up to the state and the operators.'

Commercial readiness for China's TD-SCDMA technology could clear the way for Beijing to issue long-awaited 3G licenses to home telecom operators, the newspaper said.

ZTE declined to comment on the report when approached by AFP.