In-Stat: Government Policies to Have Major Influence on 3G Market in China

In-Stat has issued a new report that looks at the challenges the 3G market in China faces due to the government’s developing policies on the high-speed wireless technology. According to the report, "the number of mobile subscribers in China will reach nearly 610 million in 2009, with the percentage of 3G users ranging from 23%–58%, depending on various competitive scenarios and operator strategies."

Anty Zheng at In-Stat said, "In-Stat believes 3G licenses will be issued, at the earliest, in the beginning of 2006, after an industry restructuring of wireless network operators. Three 3G licenses will be issued if China Unicom and China Netcom are to be merged, and four licenses will be issued if no merger occurs.”

Key findings include:

• WCDMA technology will be the dominating 3G technology in China, while TD-SCDMA will grow gradually over time
• Government considerations will greatly influence factors such as technology maturity, handset availability, system compatibility, global roaming capability, and construction costs
• Voice will still be the dominating service for 3G in China, while mobile Internet access service will be the fastest-growing service