(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Beijing appears to be favoring a homegrown next-generation mobile phone standard for its market, but should let carriers make their own choice, a US trade official.
The appeal by Franklin Lavin, undersecretary of commerce for international trade, came amid reports China is pressing carriers to adopt its standard to boost its technology industries.
'We do see signs that China intends to tilt the playing field to a national standard, even if customers favor an international system,' Lavin said. 'We should let the market determine this. If the government chooses one, that is unfair to customers.'
China is the world's biggest mobile phone market with 461 million phones, and decisions about standards could have far-reaching effects on the equipment market.
The communist government is promoting 3G standard to reduce reliance on foreign technology and create opportunities for Chinese telecoms companies.
US trade officials said last year that China had promised to let carriers make their own choice.
Chinese carriers are reluctant to use the Chinese system, TD-SCDMA, saying it doesn't work as well as foreign systems known as W-CDMA and CDMA-2000, according to Chinese news reports.
But industry experts say Beijing is still pressing carriers to use its standard alongside the international rivals.
China Mobile, the biggest mobile carrier, has invited equipment suppliers to submit bids for building a 3G network based on the Chinese standard, state media reported this month.
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