China Telecom and China Network, the country's top 2 fixed-line telephone operators, kicked off a new round of procurement for their TD-SCDMA trial network in Baoding City, Hebei Province and Qingdao City, Shandong Province respectively.

At a closed-door meeting over the weekend, the two giants invited companies to bid, Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported Tuesday, quoting a source from ZTE Corporation.

Last year, China Telecom appointed TD Tech Ltd and Datang to build its trial network in Baoding, while China Netcom chose Datang and ZTE in Qingdao.

The procurement this time is an expansion of the existing TD-SCDMA networks. Hundreds of cell sites will be constructed in each city to keep the majority of the region covered, Mr. Yang Hua, secretary general of China TD-SCDMA Forum, revealed during an online chat with Sina.com last week. Datang, TD Tech, and ZTE remain the major suppliers, but their shares will be decided through bidding.

"The expansion of the network indicates that TD-SCDMA technology has matured and will be gradually put into commercialization. The large-scale test is necessary to check its quality and maintain its normal operations in the future," Yang commented.

TD-SCDMA is a homegrown technology for the third-generation (3G) telecommunications, and the China TD-SCDMA Forum was initiated in December 2000 by eight companies to promote and develop the use of this technology. Members include China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, Datang, Huawei, Motorola, Nortel, and Siemens.

The construction of two trial networks in Baoding and Qingdao is expected to be completed in October this year, as is China Mobile's network, which just finished bidding in early April.

On March 20, China Mobile announced it would invest 26.7 billion yuan (about US$3.458 billion) to build TD-SCDMA commercial network in eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao, Xiamen, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

ZTE, a Shenzhen-listed telecom equipment maker, became the largest winner, reaping 3.2 billion yuan (US$414 million) in orders and 46.78 percent of the shares.

In a statement submitted to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on April 9, ZTE said that it won the bid to provide wireless equipment in Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Xiamen, and to provide kernel networks in Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen, and Qinhuangdao.

Three other consortiums, which were led by Datang Mobile, TD Tech Ltd, and Putian Corp respectively, claimed 36.68 percent, 13.82 percent, and 2.72 percent stakes in wireless products respectively.

Mr. Yang Hua said that the TD-SCDMA network will begin operations in 2008, which fits into the timetable set by the Ministry of Information Industry stating China will offer 3G services in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

(China.org.cn by Tang Fuchun, April 19, 2007)