An agreement was signed Tuesday between the GSM Association (GSMA) and TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) Forum to co-ordinate and boost the development of both third generation (3G) wireless technology standards.

The GSMA is a global trade association representing more than 630 GSM and WCDMA mobile operators worldwide. The TD-SCDMA Forum was established in China to promote the development and commercialization of the home grown TD-SCDMA.

"The co-operation of the two standards is a perfect match," said Lei Ming, president of GSMA (China).

Both are recognized as standards by the International Telecommunications Union for 3G.

WCDMA exploits "paired" spectrum, with users speaking or transmitting data on one radio channel and hearing responses or receiving data on a second radio channel.

By contrast, TD-SCDMA transmits and receives data in different time-slots on "unpaired" radio channels.

Globally, many WCDMA operators have "unpaired" spectrum.

The alliance will help promote interoperability and international roaming between the two technologies.

This will maximize economies of scale for the benefit of end-users, operators and manufacturers, said Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSM Association.

There are 40 live WCDMA networks worldwide with subscriber numbers reaching 5 million. The number of networks is likely to reach 70 by the end of the year, he said.

The alliance is focused on maximizing synergies between two compatible "brother" systems, he said.

Analysts believe that the cooperation is likely to give a strong shot in the arm to the development of TD-SCDMA.

The Chinese Government, to support the domestic standard, allocated 155MHZ frequency resources to TD-SCDMA in October 2002.

It is predicted TD-SCDMA technology will go into large-scale commercial use sometime later this year, or in early 2005.

In another development, Ehrlich said the 3GSM World Congress (Asia) will kick off from September 27 to October 1 in Singapore.

The meeting will address key problems and strategic challenges facing the technology, he said.

(China Daily June 16, 2004)