Rumor: Datang Mobile's TD-SCDMA Equipment to Be Replaced
C114, 6/29/09
Chinese media are reporting that the TD-SCDMA network equipment provided in Guangzhou by Datang Mobile could be replaced by equipment from another vendor at no cost to the network operator, owing to Datang's current incompatibility with LTE upgrades. A spokesperson for Datang Mobile said that some other vendors were "considering providing a free replacement for Datang's equipment in Guangzhou," but that a final decision had not yet been reached. The spokesperson said, however, that Datang's TD-SCDMA equipment "does support a soft upgrade to LTE."
An industry analyst revealed that he had also heard rumors that other hardware vendors might replace Datang Mobile's equipment in Guangzhou and possibly Shanghai -providing not only free replacements for TD-SCDMA equipment but also a free expansion of existing GSM equipment. The source said that the plan was currently under review by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
President Xie Yongbin of Datang Mobile said at the "2009 International Summit on TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE" in late May that Datang Mobile was the only provider of TD-SCDMA network equipment that could be upgraded to TD-LTE via a soft upgrade. During the first and second phases of TD-SCDMA network construction, Datang provided a total of more than 20,000 base station kits.
Editor's Note: At a recent lecture, China Mobile VP Zhang Xiaotie revealed that the third phase of TD-SCDMA construction will see the replacement of a large amount of the equipment from the second phase of construction, primarily because some of that equipment was unable to meet the operator's network quality standards for TD-SCDMA, does not support soft upgrades to LTE, or occupies too much space.
Keywords: mobile network equipment 600198.SH base station China Mobile Datang Mobile GSM MIIT network construction TD-LTE TD-SCDMA wireless Xie Yongbin Zhang Xiaotie 3G 4G Datang Telecom
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