Chinese manufacturers often get maligned for “borrowing” technologies and “forgetting” to pay the licencing fees; in an attempt to stay one step ahead in the rush for 3G cellphone connectivity (and take maximum advantage of all those new first-time users in the country) the government there has developed their own 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, and is pushing domestic carriers to adopt it instead of, or alongside, other CDMA technologies.  Now, China Mobile - the country’s biggest carrier - has announced a trial of the homegrown standard, by issuing 20,000 handsets and 5,000 data cards using TD-SCDMA in Beijing and a further seven cities come Tuesday. 

The Chinese government had previously suggested it hoped to have a 3G network running by the Beijing Olympics, which open in August, but they delayed awarding 3G licences until TD-SCDMA was developed.  Motorola and Nokia are among the manufacturers ready to produce compatible hardware once the 3G carriers are selected; the government has said it will allow the networks themselves to choose whichever technology they prefer, but the carriers have expressed concern that they are being pressured to pick TD-SCDMA.

No timescales for the China Mobile trial, nor details on its potential expansion, have been given.

[via picturephoning]