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Georgina Lee

Listening in on the telecom industry

HK MOBILE INDUSTRY READIES FOR 3G CHINA

Even as the timing for Beijing to issue a 3G licence remains a billion-dollar question generating much  speculation, industry group Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA) has taken  the first step to prepare Hong Kong mobile players to tap into the lucrative industry.

The association is expected to launch a platform for China's homegrown 3G technology

TD-SCDMA next month. The standard is widely expected to back the first licence, to be issued this year.

The group is awaiting approval from the  telecoms watchdog Ofta to use spectrum  to conduct applications trials.

According to Anthony Tang, director of Hong Kong Wireless Development Centre under WTIA, one-third of the estimated  $20-million project  will be funded by Hong Kong government. The rest will be contributed by the industry, with most of the network gear provided by  Datang Mobile.

The initiative    will see a cell site being established at the Wireless Development Centre at Cyberport. It will provide mobile operators, content providers and applications developers with a platform  on which they can test  their solutions.

'We do have a lot of foreign mobile professionals and overseas government officials visiting our Wireless Development Centre. For our Chinese counterpart in the project, the site would  serve as a showcase on China's proprietary TD-SCDMA technology,' said Lawrence Cheung, vice-president of WTIA.

Industry watchers estimate  spending on TD-SCDMA  will account for a third of all 3G spending in the mainland.

Apart from the TD-SCDMA project, WTIA has also been helping with the development of mobile government in Hong Kong.

Mr Tang said the organisation  had  introduced a Hong Kong mobile solutions developer to the Hong Kong Observatory so that weather information such as typhoon and  rainstorm warnings could  be delivered via short messaging services on mobile phones.



Earful