No 3G for the Olympics?

The 2008 Beijing Olympics may not have any 3G coverage. Even China Mobile, the operator sponsoring the games, isn't sure when the necessary 3G licences will turn up.

Zhong Dai, networks department deputy general manager at China Mobile, said the company is aware of the need for next-generation coverage in the city for the games but can't say if it will be provided due to the lack of licences being distributed by the government.

He said: "Of course we need the 3G service but the government hasn't sent the licence."

Dai is considering alternatives to 3G as a result of the delay. "You know we don't launch 3G yet. Maybe we'll take on the challenge with WiMax, wi-fi and so on," he said, adding that the operator is trialling the technology in some cities already.

China's government has so far backed TD-SCDMA, a homegrown variant of 3G but has yet to issue any licences for any flavour used in Europe, including TD-SCDMA, W-CDMA, nor for EV-DO, which is used in the US.

Dai believes the choice of W-CDMA is more natural for China Mobile. "TD is a Chinese 3G standard, so we should support it but we have the biggest GSM [customer base] if we select W-CDMA, it's better than the others. Because we have so many subscribers on GSM, to go through W-CDMA I think is better."

It's thought the Chinese government's leaning towards TD-SCDMA is an effort to make it independent of the Western vendors who control other standards.

Qualcomm, which owns a number of essential 3G patents, is one vendor likely to be hoping that the Chinese government eventually opens the doors to the types of 3G already in use.

Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm, said today: "We'll tell you what we'll do when the licences get issued. We don't know when and we don't know what. We'll continue to build relationships. Our strategy with respect to TD-SCDMA will be talking to various participants and offering our experience."