China plans 3G commercial trials in 8 cities: report

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The parent of China Mobile (0941.HK), the country's top wireless operator, will start commercial trials of a homegrown third-generation wireless standard, TD-SCDMA, in eight cities on April 1, state media said on Friday.

Shares in several Hong Kong-listed equipment vendors, including China Communications Services Corp Ltd (0552.HK) and China Wireless Technologies Ltd (2369.HK), rose on Friday, as investors anticipate heavy spending on telecoms gear.

The commercial trials will help to improve TD-SCDMA technology, as well as provide better mobile services during the Beijing Olympics, the Xinhua news agency said on its Web site www.xinhuanet.com.

They will also help to enhance the maturity of China's telecoms sector and improve the future competitiveness of the country's 3G sector, Xinhua added.

TD-SCDMA stands for time division synchronous code division multiple access.

The eight cities chosen for the trials are Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Qinhuangdao.

Shares in China Communications Services rose 6.6 percent on Friday, while China Wireless Technologies jumped 8.2 percent and Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Ltd (2342.HK) rose 7.5 percent, versus a 2.7 percent rise in Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI.

Lenovo Group (0992.HK) rose 3.5 percent.

Official broadcaster CCTV said earlier this month that the homegrown 3G standard looked ready for commercial use at the Beijing Olympics after network trials went off without a hitch.