Curbs placed on trial 3G networks

The Ministry of Information Industry has ordered a stop to new trial W-CDMA networks before the issue of the country's first 3G cell phone licenses, the Shanghai Securities News reported, citing an unidentified China Mobile official. Beijing endorsed the domestic TD-SCDMA 3G platform as a national standard last month, providing a lead against international rivals W-CDMA and CDMA2000. The first TD-SCDMA license is expected to be issued soon to a dominant domestic player like China Telecom, but analysts believe the two rival standards will also be licensed to Chinese operators as early as May.