Sweden-based telecommunication giant Ericsson has announced that it will launch a new technological upgrade on the Chinese mainland in order to make its third-generation or 3-G mobile phone services faster and more powerful.

The new technology to be introduced is called HSDAP, or high-speed downlink packet access, and it enjoys shorter transmission and higher system capacity when compared with existing WCDMA technology.

Ericsson president and chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg says HSDAP will make mobile applications more efficient, including Internet access and audio video downloads, because it is four times faster than WCDMA network.

In addition, the president indicates he believes the Chinese mainland will become Ericsson's biggest market in the next decade and a major user of this advanced 3-G network gear.

China will have more than 118 million 3G subscribers by 2008.

(CRI September 24, 2004)