US : Lucent Technologies announced that it will participate in field testing of third-generation (3G) mobile networking technologies, which is being sponsored by China's Ministry of Information Industries (MII).

Inset is Jason Chi, chairman and president of Lucent Technologies China quoted below.

As part of the testing regime, Lucent will team up with China Netcom for W-CDMA (also known as UMTS) trials in Shanghai, and China Telecom for CDMA2000 trials in Guangzhou.

The trials will be conducted over networks of various service providers in China using 2.1 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum, which is to be allotted to operators to launch commercial 3G services. The trials will involve live voice and high-speed data calls, and compatibility tests between the network equipment of participating vendors.

"The trials provide an ideal opportunity for Lucent to showcase its leading 3G solutions and demonstrate its long-term commitment to China's mobile communications market," said Jason Chi, chairman and president of Lucent Technologies China. "As the global leader in 3G spread-spectrum technologies, Lucent is well-positioned to work closely with Chinese service providers on these future 3G deployments."

"One of the major challenges for service providers as they migrate to 3G is the uncertainty around various technologies and the demand for the services these technologies make possible," said Jim Brewington, president of Lucent's Mobility Solutions Group. "Given the extensive experience Lucent has in virtually every segment of today's mobile communications market, we are confident that we can help operators in China explore their options, and make their investment decisions with peace of mind that those investments will be fully protected."

Lucent's strength in 3G is backed by a tremendous amount of expertise in spread-spectrum technology, the basis of both CDMA2000 and W-CDMA/UMTS networks, providing service providers with smooth migration paths to next- generation services while maximizing their existing investments.