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China Mobile, an official Olympic sponsor, used the Games to tout a new network based on the government-backed TD-SCDMA standard.
The idea is that with TD-SCDMA China has its own standards and does not have to pay royalties to anyone else. Which is perhaps why it was not released properly, as promised, in time for the Olympic Games.
Three local employees of the Financial Times Beijing bureau won the chance to join a large-scale TD-SCDMA consumer service trial using locally produced handsets.
Unfortunately, after three days of intensive use, thierverdicts on the TD-SCDMA service were damning.
‘It’s too terrible’ said one who used a Panda TD988 made by Nanjing Panda, with a recommended retail price of RMB2,780.
‘It sucks,’ said another who had a Lenovo TD800 at RMB1,800).
‘Too awful,’ agreed another trying out a Postcom n268 made by Guangzhou New Postcom Equipment at Rmb1,800.
It would be wrong to read too much into a single technology test involving only three people. But as a random sampling it will do. On this experience TD-SCDMA technology is not mature, not ready for release to the public.
Wang Yumin, of the government’s China Academy of Telecommunication Research, says that while TD-SCDMA trails years behind its rival standards, it is making progress. He estimates that by this month China Mobile has between 80,000 and 100,000 TD-SCDMA users, up from 52,000 in early July.
Read the full report HERE.
Source: Financial Times