Alcatel "close to 3G deal"

French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel said it was near closing a deal with an undisclosed Chinese company to jointly build third-generation (3G) mobile phone networks using Chinese standards, a first for the company. Christian Reinaudo, head of Alcatel's Asia Pacific operations, said the central government would mandate one of China's wireless operators to use TD-SCDMA, China's version of 3G.