Pimping TD-SCDMA at the Olympics

Posted on August 9, 2008
Filed Under Beijing Olympics, China Business, Mobile |

China Mobile Communications Corp has started its major push to promote home-grown third-generation mobile services to foreign visitors with new retail outlets to showcase the technology during the Beijing Olympics.

The official mobile operator of the Beijing Olympics has 21 outlets in the capital as well as counters at the airport to draw visitors’ attention. Its 3G services, based on the locally developed TD-SCDMA standard, has undergone trial runs in some key cities for months and is available during the Games.

The Games are an opportunity for China Mobile to test its 3G services before Beijing grants the company a licence for a full commercial launch. If well-received, it could also help promote the technology in overseas markets. China Mobile offers six TD-SCDMA handset models for rent. Foreign visitors can rent a handset for 10 yuan (HK$11.39) a day, plus a prepaid card for 218 yuan.

Calls within the mainland cost 40 fen per minute. Calls cost 1.5 yuan per minute to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, and 3.6 yuan per minute is charged to the United States, Japan and Korea.

Cheap, cool, gee-whizzery for Olympic visitors? Yes. Realistic chance of encouraging TD-SCDMA in the rest of the world? Nope.