China : Alcatel-Lucent and Datang Mobile announced that their consortium has won the largest share in China Mobile's tender for the second phase of its TD-SCDMA mobile network trial.

The industry-leading TD-SCDMA offering from the two companies will help China Mobile address the growing demand in China for broadband Internet access services on mobile devices.

The deployment of China Mobile's phase II TD-SCDMA network will cover 28 cities across the nation. Under the agreement Alcatel-Lucent and Datang Mobile will provide their industry-leading TD-SCDMA solution for 11 of the 28 cities covered by China Mobile’s phase II network, including Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Changchun, Hefei, Guiyang, Kunming, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Yinchuan and Urumqi.

Upon the project’s completion in June of 2009, the subscribers in these 11 cities will be able to enjoy a full range of multimedia services including ring back tones, multimedia messaging service and – with the eventual future introduction of 3G capabilities – more advanced services such as video telephony.

“China Mobile is making substantial investments in the country’s next generation mobile communications infrastructure to ensure that China’s citizens have access to some of the most sophisticated and useful mobile services,” said Olivia Qiu, President of Alcatel Shanghai Bell. “Alcatel-Lucent’s and Datang Mobile’s participating in this phase II trial offers a great opportunity for our companies to help China Mobile meet its goals. It’s a strong proof point of our commitment to partner with our customers in their transition to next generation mobile networks.”

“Datang Mobile is committed to continuously delivering new innovations to strengthen TD-SCDMA technology, and is leveraging the experience accumulated in the first phase of the trial to provide China Mobile with a superior network that can support their business objectives,” said Xie Yongbin, President of Datang Mobile. “Our long-term strategic partnership with Alcatel Shanghai Bell has been a valuable asset as we work to accelerate the industrialization of TD-SCDMA technology”.

The phase II expansion builds on the successful collaboration with China Mobile on the initial deployment of its trial network. In April 2007, Alcatel Shanghai Bell and Datang Mobile jointly secured China Mobile’s phase I TD-SCDMA trial network tender. The companies completed construction of the TD-SCDMA networks in Guangzhou and Shanghai at the end of 2007 and put base stations into operation ahead of schedule. Alcatel Shanghai Bell and Datang Mobile successfully deployed over 2,000 base stations in each city with the coverage of 1,782 square kilometers in Guangzhou and 1,153 square kilometers in Shanghai, respectively.

Since 2004, Alcatel Shanghai Bell and Datang Mobile have engaged in a strategic partnership to develop TD-SCDMA solutions in China and work together to secure commercial opportunities in China and abroad.