China Mobile has won approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to construct a nationwide commercial trial network based on the TD-SCDMA technology, the local 3G technology. China Mobile already constructed TD-SCDMA trial networks in eight cities. Last month, China Mobile took over the TD-SCDMA network in Qingdao and Baoding respectively from China Netcom and China Telecom. The bidding for the second phase of the construction of TD-SCDMA network in 28 cities has started. Most of the cities are provincial capitals or municipalities. The total investment may exceed 30 billion RMB.

Comment: MIIT’s approval does not mean the government has issued China Mobile a 3G license, but China Mobile has got the first chance to exercise and seize market opportunities on the Chinese 3G market. What China Mobile should do next is to make planning for the investment. After all, nationwide construction and commercial trial of TD-SCDMA network needs a large amount of money. The coexistence and consolidation of the current GSM service and the future 3G service should also be overall considered.