Alcatel-Lucent’s Chinese subsidiary, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, has teamed up with Chinese vendor Datang Mobile in a successful bid to provide homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G kit to leading operator China Mobile.

Datang and Alcatel will deploy TD-SCDMA network equipment for China Mobile in Shanghai and in the southern city of Guangzhou. Alcatel will provide the Node B equipment to be used in the network.

TD-SCDMA, initially developed by Datang Mobile, has been officially recognized as an international standard for third-generation (3G) mobile communications. Alcatel Shanghai Bell has made a long-term commitment to the development and promotion of TD-SCDMA within China and worldwide. In 2004, Alcatel Shanghai Bell entered into a strategic partnership with Datang Mobile to further the development of TD-SCDMA and as part of that agreement made an investment in Datang of Euro 25 million to acquire shares and further TD-SCDMA industrialization.

In January it was reported that China Mobile had already begun the process of building out a commercial TD-SCDMA network in five major Chinese cities as a prelude to a nationwide roll out.

The operator is expected to begin offering commercial GSM-TD-SCDMA services via dual mode handsets in the second half of the year.

TD-SCDMA, China’s locally developed 3G technology was developed in part by Datang Mobile. In 2004, Alcatel Shanghai Bell entered into a strategic partnership with Datang Mobile to further the development of TD-SCDMA and as part of that agreement made an investment in Datang of Eur25m to acquire shares and further TD-SCDMA industrialisation.