China plans 3G wireless network trials

China announced it planned to set up four trial TD-SCDMA (time division synchronous code division multiple access) networks in Beijing and Shanghai to conduct testing. TD-SCDMA is a mainland-developed third generation (3G) wireless standard that has been accepted by six mainland telecom providers. Tests were scheduled to take place from May through September in preparation for government granting of TD-SCDMA licenses in 2005. Datang Mobile and ZTE Corp were scheduled to provide equipment for the Shanghai networks, planned to be built by China Telecom and China Satcom. Datang Mobile, China Putian and Nortel Networks were scheduled to provide equipment for Beijing networks, planned to be constructed by China Netcom and China Railcom.