Investments Into Datang Mobile Likely To Boost Third Generation (3G) Mobile Services For 2008 Beijing Olympics

CD (CHINA)--On 4 July 2007, China Daily reports Shanghai-listed Yangtze Power Company signed a contract to pay 1.3 billion yuan (USD171.2 million) for a 12% stake in Datang Mobile, a key developer of Chinese home-grown standard for third generation (3G) mobile phone services, Time Division-Synchronized Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). China's two largest insurers, China Life Insurance Company and Ping An Insurance Company, also bought stakes from Datang but are negotiating on amount of stake and price. Datang reports to own the majority of core intellectual property rights (IPRs) of TD-SCDMA. These investments follow an interest-free loan China Development Bank awarded to Datang for TD-SCDMA development in April worth 4.6 billion yuan (USD 605.6 million). This cash injection will likely boost development of TD-SCDMA in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-07/04/content_909497.htm