Chinese firm in talks with European and Asian operators on licensing technology
Huawei Technologies, China largest telecommunications equipment vendor, is hoping to win a share of the 10 million mobile television handsets market this year by piloting its proprietary mobile television technology with PCCW.
By first licensing what is called the cell multimedia broadcast (CMB) technology to PCCW Mobile, Huawei is taking on leading wireless vendors such as Nokia by showcasing its own 3G network-based technology that it hopes can potentially challenge other mobile television standards such as DVB-H (digital video broadcasting hand-held) - a standard expected to dominate Europe and the US whose worldwide trials are spearheaded by the Finnish giant.
A senior executive at Huawei's wireless division said it was talking with European and Asian mobile operators about licensing to them the CMB technology, for which it is also seeking patents overseas.
'We are also talking with one-third of the leading worldwide handset makers to license them our CMB software,' the executive said, but refused to be more specific.
Huawei has built 28 3G networks worldwide based on UMTS, with operators such as Vodafone in the Czech Republic, Etisalat in the Middle East, the Netherland's KPN and Indonesia's Natrindo Telepon Selular. PCCW Mobile is the only Hong Kong mobile operator using Huawei.