Is China wise to launch TD-SCDMA @ the Beijing games?

Rating: the starts don’t look too good

The dangers of relying on untried and tested new technology have been brought home to us Brits by the present debacle at Heathrow Terminal 5. What if the same thing were to happen at the Beijing Olympics?

It looks like the Chinese government will forge ahead with providing a 3G service in the Olympic cities via the home-grown standard TD-SCDMA. That move could either establish TD-SCDMA on par with the likes of W-CDMA and CDMA2000. Or the whole thing could backfire terribly.

China Mobile has admitted it will be testing TD-SCDMA based networks in eight cities – including Beijing and Shanghai – between April and July. Just in time for the games to begin on August 8th.
According to the FT, China Mobile has ordered TD-SCDMA mobile phones from ZTE (no surprise there) plus Lenovo (better known for its laptops), along with LG and Samsung.
Quite frankly, I don’t think that is going to be enough. And I also have another reservation. The main reason for wanting a 3G handset in your hand for the Olympics isn’t to surf the web. I say it is to watch TV.
And I don’t mean streamed video either. What you want to be able to see is what the TV companies are showing in real-time. Look at the trouble the established 3G players – with the possible exception of Japan – are having with providing TV over 3G.
I’d also be very worried if I were a reporter covering the games and having to rely on a TD-SCMA handset. Given the Chinese government’s attitude towards censorship, could you rely on your publisher’s URL not being blocked accidentally?
Whilst on the subject of TV and handsets, I noticed that AT&T has just announced its intention to offer a TV service via Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology.
How many handsets is AT&T Wireless planning to launch with? Just two: - the Vu phone from LG Electronics and the Access from Samsung. Not enough
Look at the fate of Virgin Mobile’s TV tie up with BT Movio. In that case there was only the one handset – the Lobster 700TV.
History has a habit of repeating itself, so the signs don’t look good at all for TD-SCDMA first real outing.

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