Rumor: Results of Round-5 TD-SCDMA Equipment Tender Delayed
Sina Tech, 2/16/12
An industry source said recently that China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) had not yet revealed the results of its fifth-round TD-SCDMA equipment tender, for which it began accepting bids more than five months ago.
China Mobile announced its fifth TD-SCDMA equipment tender in the second half of September 2011. The operator said that it planned to invest RMB 19 bln in building TD-SCDMA networks in county seat-level cities and key townships around the country, and in filling out its existing TD-SCDMA network deployment in urban areas with a total of 53,000 new TD-SCDMA base stations. Manufacturer bids were revealed in November 2011 and ranged from RMB 11,000 to RMB 15,000 per carrier sector.
Industry norms would have dictated that the bidding end before late December, but results for the fifth-round tender have still not been revealed.
One explanation in industry circles is that the operator's plans for its fifth-round TD-SCDMA tender were rejected over concerns that the cost of operating TD-SCDMA networks in certain areas, such as China's less-developed western regions, would outstrip potential profitability. According to this explanation, China Mobile has been forced to redraft plans for its expansion, leaving the results of the tender uncertain.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Rumor: China Mobile TD-SCDMA Procurement Bids Rise" MD 11/04/11 issue.
Keywords: China Mobile procurement wireless bidding CHL TD-SCDMA 0941.HK 3G network construction mobile network equipment base station
Sending
