China Mobile launches breakthrough number of 3G phones

China Mobile Ltd said on June 6 it achieved a breakthrough figure of mobile phones launched for TD-SCDMA, one of China's homegrown 3G technologies.

Li Huidi, vice-president of China Mobile Communications Corp, said that about 47 mobile phone models have been launched since the beginning of the year for TD-SCDMA. Thirty-two of those handsets were smartphones, he added.

TD-SCDMA is the Chinese-developed 3G technology that China Mobile adopts.

By May, there were 250 mobile phone manufacturers working with China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator by number of users.

Market observers have said that TD-SCDMA is falling behind the other two 3G technologies - the WCDMA used by China Unicom and the CDMA2000 of China Telecom - in terms of the number of terminals and the availability of chipsets.

However, Li said that eight chipset makers are now able to provide TD chipsets, and that Qualcomm Inc, the world’s top smartphone chipset supplier, is about to launch a series of TD chipsets this year.

"China Mobile would consider prioritizing partnerships with mobile phone makers that launch TD versions of cell phones first," Li said at a Beijing news conference.

By May, the number of China Mobile’s 3G service subscribers was over 60 million and the number of TD base stations was at 232,000.