PDC Vs. GSM: The 4G Sequel?

Japan’s Communication Research Laboratory (CRL) plus NTT Communications, KDDI, Hitachi and Fujitsu are teaming up with the China Academy of Telecommunications Research, the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and some local carriers to formulate and develop an 4G standard and to fight off the ITU’s standardization bid…

The new ties are an extension of a three-year deal first announced last November to rope China into the IPv6 standard, which is backed by a huge consortium here, and behind this is Mitsubishi Corp., which is no doubt setting up a bunch of juicy contracts for IPv6 equipment makers, which, as it happens, include Fujitsu and Hitachi.

As part of the move, DoCoMo has already set up shop in Beijing, although Keiji Tachikawa refused comment on the issue at his last press conference.

Reports out of Japan suggest that the 4G standard Japan and China are touting is going to have buckets of bandwidth, up to 100Mbps and be available in 2010.

One of the key policies is roping the potential standard into a bunch of electronics products (where is Nokia in all this?) that Japan is going to be making in proxy through its huge production export drive in the 90s.

Add in most predictions that Chinese companies will themselves be electronics powerhouses by 2010 (barring the upheavals of democracy in post-Beijing Olympics or cessation of provinces, civil war etc.) this could be a formidable challenge.

It looks as if Japan is attempting to strike while the iron is hot as the ITU isn?t supposed to start yelling over the squabbling about setting standards for 4G until 2005.

Let’s hope seamless high-speed international roaming will be designed in and that it will help kick out the “Communist” or whatever they are supposed to be party hacks still filtering reality and news out of Internet access.

That’s unless certain global media organizations continue to sign sweetheart deals with the butchers of Tiananmen Square to censor their contents with the apparent ethical stance that Chinese people are good enough to make money out of but not good enough to get the whole picture.

Viva the Real revolution, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION!

– The Editors