telecom - France Telecom considers TD-SCDMA

A research unit of France Telecom has said on Friday it might be considering the usage of the Chinese standard for the third generation mobile phone, TD-SCDMA, according to Dow Jones. The company has joined earlier this month a forum that lobbies for the promotion of the Chinese standard, competing with both American and European standards.
An official cites the possibility when the frequency spectrum for WCDMA, the European standard runs out of capacity. Orange, FT's mobile subsidiary, owns in Europe the spectrum needed for TD-SCDMA.
This positive comes among rumors that in China itself licensing for the 3G mobile phone systems has been delayed again, at least according to the official Xinhua news agency. Delays up to the beginning of 2007 are suggested, making the roll-out of the system ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 more troublesome.