30 Oct 2007,
IPMobile, a licensed mobile telecom services provider in Japan, plans to offer mobile services supporting the TD-SCDMA standard, instead of TD-CDMA technology as originally planned, according to sources in Taiwan's handset industry.
IPMobile's shift to the TD-SCDMA standard is due to the maturing supply chain that supports TD-SCDMA technology, indicated the sources, noting that more than 20 makers, mostly China-based companies, have been able to offer 100-odd terminal devices compliant with the TD-SCDMA standard.
IPMobile originally planned to begin trial operations in October 2006 but was forced to postpone its operations due to financial troubles.
With US-based Nextwave Wireless now taking up nearly a 70% stake in IPMobile, the Japan-based mobile service provider is expected to kick off trial operations based on TD-CDMA technology starting November 9, 2007, before shifting to TD-SCDMA services later on, the sources noted.
In addition to IPMobile, service providers in France and Taiwan are also considering introducing TC-SCDMA services in France and Taiwan, respectively, the sources added.
A number of Taiwan-based companies, including Inventec Appliances, Qisda, Compal Communications and MediaTek, may benefit from an increasing use of the TD-SCDMA standard since those companies have already committed themselves to the development of TD-SCDMA technology, the sources stated.
