The two international 3G standards had implemented in the United States, Europe and Asia.

The world’s biggest market for wireless service intends to pursue its own 3G wireless standard, TD-SCMA technology, to reduce royalty and patent payments for the use of the CDMA 2000 and W-CDMA (also known as UMTS) technologies.

[NYTimes via Ars Technica| Photo credit: China Daily]

TD-SCDMA is China’s own alternative 3G standard, which it created to avoid arguments over licencing fees for existing technologies.  It then went on to put pressure on carriers, supposedly, to support TD-SCDMA either alongside or instead of other CDMA alternatives.  The original intention was to have the 3G network up and running in time for the Beijing Olympics in August, but outside of the city users are expected to have to wait significant periods before they have high-speed cellular access.  Analysts initially estimated licencing to take place at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2009, but according to Dharmapalan that is looking increasingly unlikely.

China Mobile, who are operating the trial deployment, have issued 20,000 handsets and 5,000 data cards using TD-SCDMA to users in Beijing and seven other cities.  Motorola and Nokia are among the manufacturers ready to produce compatible hardware once the 3G carriers are selected.  The Chinese government are yet to comment on suggestions that the licencing will be further delayed.