Market should decide 3G

China Telecom Chairman Wang Xiaochu said the market, rather than the government, should decide which 3G standard is adopted, the South China Morning Post reported. Beijing is expected to mandate at least one strong operator, such as China Telecom, to build a 3G network based on an as-yet unproven home-grown TD-SCDMA standard. Wang is the first mainland telecoms executive to speak out publicly for companies to be allowed to choose their own 3G platform. �You have got to study which standard can be rolled out for the best pricing, and which has the best technology properties to make it competitive,� Wang said. He said that with cash flow of US$2.7 billion and stringent cost controls, China Telecom could cover start-up costs for a mainland 3G network, allowing the free market, not the government, to decide the standard to use. The government has repeatedly delayed issuing licenses, though many analysts are now expecting an announcement in the second half of this year.