Cao Shumin, vice-dean of the China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) affiliated with the MII, said major core technologies of the TD-SCDMA standard have proved mature. "And many doubts about TD-SCDMA have also been dismissed (after a slew of technology tests and trials), she said.

CATR has been testing TD-SCDMA on behalf of the MII.

Some industry observers said the government, when licensing 3G technologies, might seek to give favour to TD-SCDMA in a bid to ensure it has an upperhand over WCDMA and CDMA2000.

"We've heard there's an idea TD-SCDMA may be given a time advantage (over other standards), said Ericsson's Svanberg.

But the CEO was quick to add that his comments were based on speculation. "We have heard too much and speculated too much in the past few years," he said.

Rumours have been swirling that China Mobile, the bigger of the country's two cellular operators, could get a TD-SCDMA licence first. Licences based on the other two technologies could be handed out later.

Selecting China Mobile, the world's largest cellular operators by subscribers, could give TD-SCDMA a big competitive edge over WCDMA and CDMA 2000.

Prior to that, many observers in the industry had been anticipating fixed-line carrier China Telecom would adopt TD-SCDMA in exchange for a licence to offer mobile services.
Currently China Telecom is prohibited from offering mobile phone services, which are much more lucrative than the fixed-line telephone services.

But the Chinese Government's promise to keep neutral in technology adoption by operations could make the 3G licensing complicated.

The Chinese Government committed to technology neutrality for 3G standards in a Sino-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in 2004.

The US Trade Representative's office said in a statement in April, ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States, that "China has agreed to ensure that telecommunications service providers will be allowed to make their own choices as to which standard to adopt, and to issue licences for all 3G standards in a technologically neutral manner."

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