Beijing 2008 Olympics to Provide Massive Trial Opportunity for TD-SCDMA

( 1 Sep 2008 )

By Stephen Las Marias, Editor


Recently, I read one of the speeches of one of the richest men in the Philippines, John Gokongwei Jr. What grabbed my interest, apart from his rising from a mere local market vendor to his empire today, is the fact that at some point in his ventures, he was a late-comer to the market—but was very successful nonetheless.

One particular industry is the telecom, which has been dominated by incumbents PLDT and Globe. Sun Cellular, the mobile brand for Gokongwei's telecom arm Digitel Mobile Philippines, was late by eight years. However, he said that being a late player likewise had its advantages—building a platform from a broader perspective, working with more advanced technologies and intelligent systems not available a few years ago, and choosing suppliers based on the most cost-efficient hardware and software available. Sun Cellular is currently the third largest mobile operator in the country, with more than 4 million subscribers and 2,000 cell sites around the archipelago.

This proves that late is better than never. And I think the same will go well with the 3GPP Long Term Evolution or LTE. The technology, which could provide 100Mbps and 50Mbps peak rates under 20MHz spectral bandwidth, is the evolution of 3G. It has already been battling head-to-head with WiMAX—although the reality is it won't be available yet in two to three years. WiMAX, with quite a number of certified devices and equipment already out in the market, clearly has the first-mover advantage. According to the WiMAX Forum, more than 100 mobile WiMAX products will be certified by the end of 2008, and by 2011 more than 1,000 products will undergo Mobile WiMAX certification. But as I mentioned above, having the time-to-market doesn't necessarily mean winning the competition. As Gokongwei points out, in the end, it is all about making life better for the consumers by giving them choices.

BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS—A MASSIVE TRIAL GROUND
By the time this magazine gets printed out and distributed, Beijing Olympics 2008 has already ended—world and Olympic records beaten and new ones set, medals distributed, athletes glorified, and countries ranked in terms of total medals grabbed, competitiveness, and sportsmanship. However, since that is still more than a month away (as of this writing), it'd be quite interesting to talk about the preparations China has made in terms of its wireless infrastructures and services in time for the said event.

In preparation for the huge rush during the games, Beijing has expanded its subway system, increasing its capacity to more than double the previous size. In addition to that, mobile phone signals would be made available, so that people can use their communication devices in the metro stations or underground. With an estimated 6.4 million visitors during the events, Beijing Metro's previous wireless network capacity would be put under strain. One company tapped to solve this problem is Andrew Wireless Solution—the communications products and systems arm of CommScope Inc. Andrew will be deploying its RADIAX radiating cables and ION-M repeaters in the Beijing Metro to support private, public and security wireless usage.

I was able to see these systems during the company's exhibition at the recent CommunicAsia 2008. Ben Cardwell, Andrew's Vice President for Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific, explained that the systems, supporting GSM, CDMA, or GPRS-enabled mobile devices will provide personnel and passengers available wireless signals in the line's tunnels and on platforms.

Speaking of 3G mobile phone standards/technologies, here's one bad news for foreign visitors to the Beijing Olympic Games: they will not be able to use their WCDMA and CDMA2000 EVDO mobile phones in China, according to Xi Guohua, deputy minister for China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). This is because China has not issued the license for 3G mobile phones, yet.

However, TD-SCDMA will be an exception. China's highly controversial, home-grown third generation mobile technology—TD-SCDMA or Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access—will make itself felt at this 2008 Olympic Games as it goes on a really massive public "trial". I say trial because, given the delay in license issuance in addition to China's current telecom industry restructuring, we cannot say that what is happening now is really the official deployment of the technology. According to Xi, the industry reshuffle will take at least half a year to finish—after which only 3G licenses will be given to respective operators.

There are three 3G standards currently available in China—TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and CDMA2000. However, as soon as restructuring has concluded and licenses are issued, TD-SCDMA subscribers in China are expected to increase rapidly in 2008 and reach 52 million in 2011, according to In-Stat. By the way, visitors shouldn't be worried about their "connectivity". China Mobile is launching TD-SCDMA services during the event, and the telco provider will offer at least 20,000 special 3G mobile phones, which will be available for hire to foreign visitors during the Olympic Games.

One more interesting service to see during the 2008 Beijing Olympics is mobile video. Among the key points in China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) in terms of the telecommunications sector are emphasis on 3G and mobile TV services. In fact, the government has been pushing for widespread mobile TV availability for the 2008 Olympics. In line with the event, Juniper Research forecasts that China's mobile TV market will grow from $36 million in 2007 to $98 million during the Olympic Games in 2008.

These figures are complemented by the number of people interested in viewing the games on their handhelds. According to China-based market research firm SINO-MR, about 71 percent of China consumers are interested in watching the 2008 Beijing games on mobile phones, and 41 percent consider buying these devices to gain mobile access to the sport coverage. The market researcher added that the 2008 Olympics will set a world record in terms of the number of people watching the games on mobile TV.


You can reach Stephen Las Marias at stephen.lasmarias@rbi-asia.com.