Samsung helps pioneer Chinese 3G standard

Samsung Electronics said yesterday that it has produced the world’s first TD-SCDMA cellphone in a joint project with Chinese and Dutch firms. The Korean manufacturer said TD-SCDMA, or time division synchronous code division multiple access, has an exclusive modem chip that allows a massive amount of data to be transmitted wirelessly from the Internet, and a higher quality end-to-end video stream. Samsung jointly developed the technology with Datang Mobile Communications Equipment of China and Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands. The first trial call of the new mobile phone was made on Friday between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who was visiting Amsterdam, and Zhou Huan, the president of the Chinese company. Many multinational mobile phone companies, including Nokia and Motorola, are developing third-generation mobile telecommunication standards jointly with Chinese companies, as Beijing is planning to adopt a third-generation standard that is different from the WCDMA standard in Europe and the CDMA2000 currently used in the United States. The Chinese government will begin testing the new cellphone in May and then decide on which standard to adopt. by Lee Hee-sung, Lee Ho-jeong