HONG KONG (WiMAX Day). After a report was leaked by China News Network this week that telecommunications operator China Unicom had been “secretly” constructing a nationwide WiMAX network, the company quickly to corrected this information yesterday and stated that it has only conducted “pilot projects” and technical tests.

While China Unicom has licenses for a significant amount of 3.5 GHz spectrum, the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has yet to identify any radio frequencies for WiMAX, or approve the use of WiMAX in any frequency range. Without this official sanction, it has been arduous for any company to build a network, let alone publicly announce any sort of testing.

Thus it was a surprise during the flurry of reports and retractions this week when MII Minister Wang Xudong, at an annual national work conference, made the first official statement about WiMAX. According to China News Network, the Minister said that WiMAX is a complement to 3G technology, and its use as a broadband technology merits “in-depth studies.”

The WiMAX factor
WiMAX has thus far caused considerable controversy in China, as spectrum owners and manufacturers push for approval to deploy networks. MII has been backing a local Chinese technology known as McWill, and following previous licenses awarded for 3G spectrum, MII had not publicly acknowledged WiMAX as deserving recognition from the Ministry.

The official statement made by China Unicom yesterday was that they have been testing the 802.16d version of WiMAX for fixed broadband wireless. The Technical Director of China Unicom told the First Financial Daily in Shanghai that “since the beginning of last year, China Unicom has been testing WiMAX in Guangdong, Shanghai, Dalian and five other cities.”

The distinction between 802.16d and 802.16e is politically charged in China, as 802.16e is known as “mobile WiMAX” and any form of mobility is only approved for mobile operators and 3G networks.

Professor Song Junde, a professor of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, has stated that the 3.5 GHz frequency, for which licenses were issued in 2004 to China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom, is ideal for use with fixed WiMAX, and he has also suggested that the Chinese government approve this frequency for use with WiMAX as soon as possible. This would enable the operators and equipment manufacturers to rapidly deploy networks and engage in more research and development.

While the fate of WiMAX remains uncertain for Chinese operators, many now have hope that the Ministry will seriously consider sanctioning the use of WiMAX, especially in light of the up-coming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, as reported previously.