Asia - Europe Business

Beyond 4G Wireless (2)

Millimeter-wave photonics is a truly disruptive technology for high frequency applications. It offers unique capabilities such as ultra-wide tunability and low-phase noise which are not possible with competing technologies, such as electronics. What this will mean in practical terms is not only ultra-fast wireless data transfer over telecommunications networks, but also a whole range of new applications.

 

One of these, a 60GHz Photonic Wireless System, was demonstrated at the ICT 2008 exhibition in Lyon and was voted into the Top Ten Best exhibits. The system allows wireless connectivity in full high definition (HD) between devices in the home, such as a set-top box, TV, PC, and mobile devices. It is the first home area network to demonstrate the speeds necessary for full wireless HD of up to 3Gb/s.

 

The system can also be used to provide multi-camera coverage of live events in HD. The same technology has been demonstrated for access telecom networks and has delivered world record data rates of up to 12.5Gb/s over short- to medium-range wireless spans, or 1500 times the speed of upcoming 4G mobile networks.

 

One way in which the technology can be deployed in the relatively short term is wirelessly supporting very fast broadband to remote areas.

 

To be continued.

 

Lisa

 

Unicom, Telecom Share Shanghai Base Stations

China Unicom and China Telecom's Shanghai subsidiaries have agreed to build 117 base stations each under a recently signed infrastructure sharing agreement. This is the first such agreement since the Shanghai subsidiaries of all three telecom operators signed an infrastructure sharing agreement on February 18.

The Chinese government instructed China Mobile, Unicom and Telecom to share and co-build infrastructure on October 6, 2008.

Lisa

Unicom to Release 14M New 3G Numbers

China Unicom has increased its mobile numbers by a total of 14.6 million, with 14.3 million "186-" 3G numbers and 300,000 "156-" 2G numbers. Unicom 2G numbers beginning with "130," "131," "132" and "156" can now be purchased online.

How about his rival China Mobile and China Telecom? To be continued…

Lisa

Unicom Subsidiary Confirms iPhone Contract

China Unicom's Shanghai subsidiary confirmed on Wednesday that its parent company has reached an agreement with Apple to bring the 3G iPhone to China. Shanghai Unicom heard the news on March 25 and is currently prepping for iPhone's China entry. Unicom may release the iPhone with its 3G network on May 17 and launch trials before that date. But, meanwhile Beijing Unicom hadn't been notified and did not want to comment.

China Unicom plans to wait to announce the agreement until May 17. The contract stipulates that Unicom will subsidize iPhone terminals, purchase a designated number of iPhones, and share revenue from wireless value-added services with Apple. Apple conceded that the iPhone will only support Unicom SIM cards. Apple is localizing software, preparing exclusive stores and testing iPhone compatibility with the WCDMA network. Unicom has begun testing the iPhone in Hebei province's Lanfang, Baoding, Tangshan and Qinhuangdao cities.

Dan, you are happy with this news?

Lisa

Alcatel-Lucent joins China Unicom 3G supplier list

Alcatel-Lucent has announced a good deal with China Unicom concerning 3G WCDMA network. The contract - secured through the vendor's local unit, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell - covers network rollout in 14 Chinese provinces, with initial network deployments in the cities of Tianjin, Baoding, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Guiyang and Guilin expected to be completed by May. 11,000 WCDMA base stations will be rolled out as part of the deal. The contract - financial details of which were not disclosed - adds four new provinces to the regions Alcatel-Lucent was serving as a second-generation supplier to China Unicom.

 

Lisa

 

China Telecom 3G Update

China Telecom has chosen Shanghai, Beijing and Jiangsu and Hubei provinces as its first batch of 3G commercial operation locations. Jiangsu Telecom issued 3G numbers on March 23, with service packages priced at RMB 5 for 30Mb and RMB 50 for 500 Mb. Beijing will begin free 3G trials on March 25 and release 3G numbers in early April, while Hubei Telecom intends to launch 3G commercial trials at the end of this month and Shanghai Telecom plans to start commercial operation in late March or early April.

China Telecom's Shanghai and Suzhou subsidiaries began offering the nation's first EV-DO trial services on March 16.

Lisa

CNNIC: China Has 55.5M Online Gamers

China recorded 55.5 million online gamers - defined as those who play massively multiplayer online games at least once a month - by the end of 2008, reported by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) on March 20. Paid gamers accounted for 76.5% of the total, while 52.5% were under 22 years old, 77.1% had less than a college education and about 30% had no income, said CNNIC.

Unofficial platforms are used by 19.6% of gamers to make RMB 10.88 million in virtual item purchases. The total market for virtual transactions is RMB 10-13 billion.

Lisa

Unicom Adds 1.64M GSM Users in February

China Unicom added 1.64 million GSM users in February to reach a total of 135.84 million GSM subscribers. The company's broadband users rose by 635,000 to 31.69 million during the month, while fixed-line users fell by 501,000 to 108.94 million.

 

Lisa

 

E-book is Becoming Colourful!

Good news for e-book readers, the first colour e-reader is developed by Fujitsu. More information

 

Lisa

Study Predicts 913 Million Mobile Banking Users by 2014

­According to a new research report by Berg Insight, the worldwide number of users of mobile banking and related services is forecasted to grow from 20 million users in 2008 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 89% to reach 913 million users in 2014. Asia-Pacific is expected to become the most important regional market, accounting for 65 percent of the total user base.

Mobile banking is also anticipated to play a key role in bringing financial services to people in the Middle East and Africa. In Europe and North America, the technology will mainly serve as an extension of existing online banks as mobile handsets become more widely used for Internet access. By 2014, Berg Insight forecasts that mobile banking will attract 110 million users in Europe and 80 million users in North America.

Besides traditional retail banking, the report also identifies international money transfer as a potential revenue source for mobile industry players. Berg Insight forecasts that 5–20 percent of the international money transfers currently handled by various formal or informal agent networks will be carried out using a mobile handset by 2014, generating US$ 170–680 million in service revenues.

Lisa