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Carrier Services
Warming China-Taiwan relations: pace is picking up
Two cable links mooted and more interest shown for cross investments
by Ek Heng, Asia-Pacific Correspondent
Following a 4-day visit last week to Taiwan, a Chinese mainland business delegation placed US$2.2 billion orders for products in a buying spree that is a symbolic step in warming relations between the mainland and Taiwan.
The Xinhua.net report highlighted the shopping list of the mainland delegation which includes liquid crystal display equipment, spare parts for mobile phones and computers, as well as plastic and chemical products, textiles and handicrafts.
Organized by the Mainland Association for Cross-Strait Economic and Trade Exchanges, the delegation comprised 35 companies including ZTE and Lenovo in the ICT arena.
In the same week, telecom companies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait agreed to tap on the opportunities in the mobile telecommunications markets, particularly the mainland’s newly-launched 3G sector, the report continued.
China’s 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, was in the limelight as a mainland telecom equipment vendor Datang Telecom signed an agreement with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). They will explore a pilot network in Taiwan using Datang’s TD-SCDMA 3G mobile standard.
ITRI’s president, Johnsee Lee said the discussions would help local equipment makers better understand the market potential and industrial standards in the mainland, the Xinhua report added.
Meanwhile, two of Taiwan’s mobile operators have shown interest in adopting China’s TD-SCDMA for their networks, according to a Reuter’s news report. There are no concrete plans but the two telcos interested are Chunghwa Telecom and Far EasTone with unlisted VIBO Telecom and Tatung Telecom being other parties, according to the report attributed to ITRI’s spokeswoman, Canny Jiang.
The growing interest in China’s homegrown 3G technology should be welcome news to China Mobile which has made considerable investments in developing and promoting the TD-SCDMA standard. China Mobile signed an agreement in late April this year to take a 12 percent stake in Taiwan’s Far EasTone and both parties are awaiting announcement in July of detailed rules for cross-strait investment by Taiwan’s economics ministry.
Taiwan’s largest telco, Chunghwa Telecom also indicated it is open to mutual investments with its mainland counterparts once it is allowed by policymakers.
In other developments, there have been two reports of proposed subsea cables to be built linking Fuzhou, Fujian province, China and Danshui, Taiwan, and between Xiamen city, China and Kinmen, an outlying island under Taiwan.
The proposed Fuzhou-Danshui link costing CNY1 billion (US$146 million) is being planned by China Unicom and Chunghwa Telecom which is also proposing the Xiamen-Kinmen cable link costing CNY 100 million (US$14.6 million) with China Telecom.
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