China launches 4G wireless services skiping 3G

Click here to read the full story >> A group of 10 "leading domestic institutions" called the "FuTURE Project" on Sunday rolled out 4G in Shanghai. The home-grown 4G system provides speeds of up to 100 MBPS in wireless transmission of data and images many times faster than that of current mobile technology. China initiated the B3G (Beyond 3G)/4G research project in 2001 under the label Future Technology for Universal Radio Environment, or FuTURE Project, which is included in the national high-tech development plan.

The country has set a goal of conducting field tests of the 4G system and putting it into trial commercial use between 2006 and 2010, according to the FuTURE Project. The FuTURE Project involves about 10 leading domestic institutions.

It has obtained more than 200 patents and some of its core technologies have been adopted by international standards organizations, positioning China as one of the world's front-runners in 4G technologies. China has yet to award domestic telecom operators licences to build 3G (third generation) mobile phone networks. One thing is certain. China has shown that it can develop its own systems, patent it own inventions, bring out its own technical innovations which jump neatly over the competition.

If China makes most of the world’s mobile phones and if China is moving to 4G then how long will it be before we are all living in a 4G world?