Mobile China: More growth expected in 3G|
Jul 22
2011
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Mobile China: More growth expected in 3GPosted by: China Media LAB on Jul 22, 2011   |
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THE number of 3G phone users in China is close to 10 percent of the country's total mobile phone user base, and this figure is viewed as the point at which 3G is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years, the top industry regulator said yesterday.
Even as 3G is set to surge, China plans to issue 4G licenses after commercial testing has been completed, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said. The 4G technology is 10-20 times faster than the current 3G.
By the end of June, there were 80.5 million 3G users, or nearly 9.1 percent of the whole handset user market in China. About 70 percent of new mobile users were 3G users during the month, according to the ministry.
"After the 3G penetration rate surpasses 10 percent, 3G growth in the country will be on the fast track," said Zhao Xinyu, general manager of research firm GFK China.
China's 3G penetration rate is below 10 percent, less than half the global level, and this represents a huge growth opportunity, Chang Xiaobing, China Unicom's chairman, said on Monday.
Meanwhile, China is testing its own 4G technology called TD-LTE (time division-synchronous code division multiple access) in six cities - Nanjing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. It plans to start commercial testing and issue 4G licenses when its "technology is ready and mature enough," said Zhang Feng, the ministry's senior official, without providing a timetable. The 4G standard will be used by China Mobile.
The telco, the world's biggest, is in talks with Apple Inc to launch iPhones running the TD-LTE technology in China, Wang Jianzhou, the firm's chairman, said previously.
In the first six months, revenue in China's telecommunications industry rose 10.1 percent annually, the first time since 2007 the growth beat the economy's 9.6 percent expansion in the same period, the ministry said.
