3G in China: Environment and Prospect

3G has been the focus of China telecom industry since 2000. In the past six years, the involved parties have made a lot of preparations for 3G, which has greatly changed the environment of 3G in China. In this paper, we discuss the possible developing paths of 3G in China, based on the results from 3G investigations and interviews with concerned experts in the government and operating companies. Firstly, based on a brief introduction of China wireless market, the key problems about developing 3G in China are listed. In the second section, a PEST analysis on the general environment of 3G in China is given, which shows that the conditions for 3G seem ripe now. In the third section, we discuss the attitudes and preparations of different parties including the government, network operators, technology developers, equipment and application suppliers, supplementary product and service providers, and customers. The fourth section focuses on the possible strategy and policies that may be adopted by the government and operators and discusses several developing paths. Then the consequences of the paths are predicted. In the fifth section, the key factors in making decisions in developing 3G are summarized. Finally, the revelations in the 3G development in China are concluded.