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It looks set to be the biggest sporting event in Chinese history, but for the telecom industry next year's Beijing Olympics will assume even greater importance as a test bed for new technologies and services.
One of these new technologies is WiMax. China's telecom regulator, the Mil, has recently unveiled a plan to roll out 150 WiMax base stations, covering 90 per cent of Beijing's commercial and residential areas, in time for the Olympics. According to the plan, the WiMax technology would be used to serve the need for high-speed data applications, such as video streaming, with TD-SCDMA (China's homegrown 3G standard) reserved for voice and less bandwidth-hungry data.
It is not yet clear if this network will remain in public service after the event, what applications it might offer and how much it will cost. But away from the glare of the Olympics, there are signs WiMax is gathering some momentum in China. Mobile operator China Unicom is reportedly testing WiMax on business and select residential users in...