Four important 4G Technology tests and conferences took place in December of 2009. First, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced the beginning of next-stage TD-LTE tests for 4G internet network on the 28th of December 2009. ZTE, Huawei, Datang, and Motorola will be the first group of manufacturers to execute these tests and will be evaluated by the MIIT. According to both the MIIT and these leading manufacturers, LTE is premier in extending the mobile communication industry to the mobile Internet. Base stations with a similar preexisting platform in TD-SCDMA mode will only need to upgrade their software to TD-LTE mode or TD/TD-LTE dual mode, minimizing costs. The stages of testing include the concept testing stage, technology research, development and experiment stage, and scale experiment stage expected to be completed in the latter half of 2010.
Secondly, the first 4G technology selection conference in China was held in Beijing this past December. Various assessment boards have tested 4G standards and proposals, headed by Wen Kun, head of the Division of Technology of the MIIT. Although the assessment boards are all from different countries and will produce different results based on their home wireless communications environment, China will base its 4G assessment on its own environment. The results of one country may not necessarily be applied to other countries, so further discussions are necessary before deciding final results. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will assist in determining frequency and introducing other important 4G technologies. China’s share of involvement in 4G technologies and standards will be at least 40%.
Thirdly, a joint seminar on new network, future internet, home networking, IPTV, CDN and environmental standards took place between the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) on the 17th of December 2009 in Beijing. The key point of this seminar was the mutual understanding that if different sectors want to realize the sharing of information globally, sensor network technology will be the key. The ETSI also emphasized the direction of home networking as the future direction of internet development.
Finally, after the world’s first 4G LTE network was introduced in Norway and Sweden, the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei won a bid to provide the network with base stations, operation support systems, and network planning and implementation. This amazingly fast network can offer users a download rate of up to 100Mbs/s, realizing its success thanks to Huawei’s assistance and support.
Morgan Crank
Lehman, Lee, and Xu