As the largest emerging telecommunication market in the world today and the host country of the so-called "Telecom Olympic" expo, China becomes the focus of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Telecom World 2006.

 

Compared with the previous ITU Telecom Exhibition, the Chinese enterprises participating in this expo is the most extensive in the history. In Hall One where holds many booths of world telecom giants like Ericsson, Microsoft, LG and Samsung, Chinese participants including China Telecom, China Mobile, ZTE, and Huawei occupy over 30 percent of the floor area.

 

Since China has promised to provide 3G services before Olympic 2008 in Beijing, it is widely rumored that 3G licenses will be issued early next year. As the developer of the TD-SCDMA technology, which has been accepted by the ITU and 3GPP as an international standard, Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group booth attracted most visits. Under the theme of "Connect to the Future", Datang exhibited its TD-SCDMA 3G mobile communication system, SCDMA wireless access system, micro-electronics industry, core exchange network and access network, fully showing its powerful strength in the area.

 

China Netcom exhibits a diversity of broadband applications ranging from informationalizaiton application solutions for SMEs and broadband-based smart home applications to CNCMAX channels and the application of triple play IPTV services.

 

In its 504-square-meter-booth, China Mobile builds an "information ocean" which conveys the notion that information helps to live in harmony. Its various service and products include mobile music, mobile gaming, MMS post card, intelligent home, corporate mailbox (PM) and animal tracing mark, etc.

 

China Day, the first in the history of ITU's Telecom World exhibition in 34 years, is seen as a climax of exchanges between Chinese telecommunication industry and its counterparts around the world.

 

Elected Secretary General of ITU Hamadoun Toure visited Chinese enterprise booths and watched the exhibition of "Development of China's Telecommunication". He said he was happy that this expo was hosted by China because "China's telecommunication industry has been growing so fast that its mobile phone subscriber number ranks No. 1 in the world."

 

President of SK Telecom, South Korea's largest telecom operator, Shin-Bae Kim, told Xinhua to stage the expo in Hong Kong has significant bearing in the telecom history. "It is the first that ITU has staged its expo in a city other than Geneva, and what's more, in a city near the Chinese mainland. China's telecom is recording a surprisingly rapid development in recent years, which brings a brighter future for cooperation between foreign companies and Chinese companies," he said.

 

An Ethiopian businessman told Xinhua that he came to this expo just for Chinese products.

 

"We only want to buy Chinese telecom products this time," he said, adding that his company has signed a contract with ZTE for a "considerable volume" of products.

 

According to a report recently released by the U.S.-based Gartner Inc., emerging markets today account for more than half of the world's total telecom connections and this will grow to 69 percent by 2010. Emerging markets will offer major potential for communication expansion in the future.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)