Sunday 6 September 2009

3G Mobile Services

If any of you are thinking of going to China, please beware of their mobile networks. They have launched their 3G service but you need to be aware of the standards that they are offering. If you possess a Nokia mobile phone from the UK, there is a big chance that it supports 3G. Well, you need to know that the 3G standard which is applicable in the UK is WCDMA 2100. If you are thinking of using 3G services in China, you need to understand China's 3G standards.


China Mobile


I think I have mentioned before regarding China Mobile. China Mobile is the largest mobile provider in China. Their network coverage is virtually 99.9999999% in China. You will be able to receive strong signals wherever you are (including underground and in the lift). One will be able to use their 2G services as it runs on 900/1800 frequency. However, if you are thinking of running their 3G services, you will have to use different handsets. This is because their 3G service runs on TD-SCDMA instead of the WCDMA format which is widely acceptable in the EU. TD-SCDMA is supposed to be the superior compared to CDMA/CDMA200/WCDMA/ED-VO. TD-SCDMA harness the qualities of WCDMA and CDMA2000 which took almost ten years to develop. Hence, one will not be able to use China Mobile's 3G services unless they change their handsets while in China.


China Unicom


China Unicom is the second largest mobile network provider in China. Many people use China Unicom as it is the alternative to China Mobile. One major attraction of China Unicom is the cost of making and receiving a call. As you know, mobile uses in China would have to pay for making/receiving calls (similar to mobile users in Singapore). What is more interesting is that the cost of making/receiving a call is 50% cheaper than China Mobile. That is one major factor where people will use China Unicom instead of China Mobile.

Their 2G coverage is not as good as China Mobile. This could be expressed in terms of a sudden drop call or a loss of mobile signal. However, I would like to stress out that their mobile signals in towns will be as good as China Mobile but less likely to be so in rural areas.

What about their 3G services then? China Unicom runs their 3G services based on the more popular WCDMA format. That means if you have a 3G mobile phone purchased in the EU, chances are you will be able to use China Unicom's 3G services as it is compatible with your mobile phones.


China Telecom


Although China Telecom is the biggest fixed line operator in China, their mobile subscribers are not as many as compared to China Mobile. 2G services aside, their 3G services are based on the American Standard - CDMA 2000. What is obvious is that they are trying to pursuade people to use CDMA 2000 but not many people will use it because it is very difficult to get compatible 3G handsets in China. If you want to buy any other than WCDMA handsets in China, it will msot probably be very expensive so it is not worth buying one. That is why there are many people will just stick to 2G services as there are no significant benefit in using 3G services in China.


I would really hope that the 3G services in China will pick up soon. I think they will as the 3G technology is still new in China. It will take a good 5 years before we will be able to see some progress in people using 3G services in China akin to customers in the EU.

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