China Mobile's Penchant for Foreign 4G: Can It Sustain Domestic Competition?

By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies as described in our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.
You can change your cookie settings at any time but parts of our site will not function correctly without them.

Case

Reference no. 608-028-1

Subject category: Production and Operations Management

Authors: Snehasish Chaudhuri (IBS Research Centre, Kolkata (IRCK)); Sirisha Nath (IBS Research Centre, Kolkata (IRCK))

Published by: IBS Research Center

Published in: 2008

Length: 8 pages

Data source: Published sources

Topics: Time division-synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SDCMA); 3G technology; 4G technology; Long term evolution (LTE); International Telecommunications Union (ITU); Wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA); FuTURE project plan; China Mobile; China Unicom; Global system for mobile phone communications (GSM); Telecommunications; Frequency division multiple access (FDMA); Mobile phones

Share a link: https://casecent.re/p/81951

| No reviews for this item

View our pricing guide or login to see prices.

Abstract

China had made significant progress in its 3G standard, time division-synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SDCMA) network and technology but 3G licences were not issued in China due to repeated government delays. To crack the potentially lucrative market, Chinese engineers started developing the ultra-fast 4G technology. Since 2001, a group of ten institutions called the FuTURE project had been working on the project B3G (Beyond 3G). The trial run of this new 4G technology was conducted in Shanghai in January 2007. In 2008, China planned to submit the home-grown fourth-generation (4G) mobile data specification to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). However, China Mobile, a state-owned enterprise of the People's Republic of China opted for LTE (Long Term Evolution), a foreign 4G technology, instead of home grown technology. This decision might prove costly for China Mobile, if the Chinese telecommunication authority does not permit the foreign 4G technology to operate in China.