The government will issue third-generation (3G) mobile phone licenses this month or early in 2009, a long-awaited move that will generate billions of yuan of investment in network upgrading and expansion next year, the country's top telecom regulator said on Friday.

Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, made the announcement at a press conference, without giving a definite timetable. "The three carriers have prepared well for 3G licensing," he said.

Under the plan, China Mobile, the country's biggest mobile carrier, will be awarded the license to operate TD-SCDMA, a system based on homegrown technology.

China Unicom, the smaller of the country's two mobile carriers that took over fixed-line carrier China Netcom in May, will get the license for the WCDMA system. China Telecom, until now a fixed-line telecom operator, will be awarded the license for CDMA 2000 technology.

"The issuance of the licenses will trigger at least 200 billion yuan of investment in network infrastructure next year, which can help stimulate domestic demand," Li said.

The minister said the government will support TD-SCDMA and would take measures to prevent overlapping and duplicated investment in network infrastructures.

The three telecom operators reached an agreement on Wednesday to share their networks, Li's ministry said on Thursday.

The deal, which specified how the telecom carriers would share their existing networks, jointly build new facilities and allocate interests, will be implemented next week.

China Mobile, which provided a 3G service during the Beijing Olympic Games, started to offer the service in April in its pre-commercial TD-SCDMA network in eight cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

(China Daily December 13, 2008)