No Great Leap Forward for 3G in China

Much of the buzz in the mobile industry in China surrounds the arrival of the long-delayed local standard TD-SCDMA, and how it will affect the development of 3G phones in what’s emerging as the world’s biggest handset market. The latest talk from Ericsson (courtesy of the China Alpha site) suggests that 3G licenses are unlikely to be handed out before the end of the year, as some major TD-SCDMA pilot projects need to run their course. This would put the government on a tight - but not unachievable - deadline to have 3G up and running by the 2008 Olympics as it has promised. 

This may be missing the wider point, however.
China’s regulators are still in a hopeless mess over the advance of telecommunications and convergence between phones and other broadcast media. Industry insiders in Beijing recently argued that co-operation between the Ministry of Information Industries (currently regulator-in-chief of the telecoms sector, but with a focus on hardware) and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (in charge of broadcast material) really needs to pick up if people are to stand any chance of being able to stream content onto their phones. As of yet there’s no sign of that. 

Indeed, one recent report in a paper run by the state-owned Xinhua news agency (translated at Danwei ) noted that at least 14 important government agencies had responsibility for varying aspects of online media, even before we start talking about putting that content onto phones. A good number of those agencies are responsible for maintaining the Great Firewall and keeping an eye on suspect internet publishing. The Chinese government’s paranoia is likely to ensure that the country’s mobile industry enters its third generation still hobbled by red tape.