The Chinese Government developing the home-grown standard for its third generation (3G) of mobile telecommunications in order to better position itself within the global marketplace.

The report was made by the China Information Association (CIA) after a European trip in late April by a group of government officials, industry experts, and domestic telecom designers want to develop the TD-SCDMA technology to make the sector grow 100% in next few years. 

 "Though WCDMA is maturing technically, all believe the real commercialization of WCDMA is likely to implemented in  first half of next year, given the scarcity of applications and terminals," the report explained. "They should take advantage of the time delay to speed up the development of TD-SCDMA." 

According to the report, China Telecom is scheduled to build up a commercial 3G network mainly based on WCDMA technology operating in seven cities. 

Meanwhile, it will be stepping up its efforts to synchronize its established businesses with 3G ventures. 

Analysts expect the Ministry of Information Industry to grant 3G mobile licences either late this year or in 2004. Fixed-line operators China Telecom and China Netcom are expected to receive licences, along with China Mobile and China Unicom. 

They also believe that China will consider both domestic and international standards when it issues 3G licences. 

Analysts said China would need at least one of its two big fixed-line carriers to adopt the home grown TD-SCDMA system.