Nokia to have TD-SCDMA phones ready for 3G launch

Mobile phone maker Nokia will have phones operating on China’s homegrown standard TD-SCDMA available when the service is launched, the firm’s vice president of Greater China sales, David Tang, told the South China Morning Post in an interview. Nokia at this point has lagged behind its competitors in developing TD-SCDMA phones, but Tang was optimistic that the Finnish company could catch up. But Frederick Wong, a technology analyst with BNP Paribas, said it might take Nokia 12-18 months to catch up with its competitors ZTE and Huawei Technologies, who have already launched TD-SCDMA products. A trio of 3G technologies are competing for share of China’s 3G market – WCDMA, CDMA2000 and homegrown TD-SCDMA, widely seen as the least-mature standard. China has yet to issue 3G licenses.