Qualcomm Inc, a pioneer and world leader in CDMA (code division multiple access) digital wireless technology, said yesterday that it anticipates strong growth in the Chinese market.

"China will be a key player in the growth for our worldwide industry,'' said Luis Pineda, vice-president of Marketing and Product Management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, Qualcomm's chipset branch.

Adopted by China Unicom, one of the duopoly mobile operators in China, the CDMA system has registered a fascinating growth in China, the world's most populous market.

Figures from China Unicom indicate that CDMA subscribers topped 16 million by the end of October.

China Unicom is currently expanding its CDMA 1X, a 2.5 generation of mobile telecommunications.

The company aims to develop 29 million CDMA subscribers by the end of this year.

It is widely anticipated that the Chinese Government is going to release its 3G licences before the end of next year.

China Netcom and China Telecom, as well as China Mobile and China Unicom, are also to get 3G licences.

Using 3G technology based on CDMA, upgrading CDMA 1X networks to CDMA1X EV-DO will be an "easier migration,'' Pineda said.

According to him, Qualcomm will continue to offer more multi-mode chipset solutions for handsets. For example, it is co-operating with China Unicom on its GSM (global system for mobile communications) 1X system, which will enable customers on the GSM system to enjoy services offered by China Unicom's CDMA network.

As for its chipset solution for the WCDMA system (Wideband CDMA), Qualcomm yesterday announced that its MSM (Mobile Station Modem) 6200 WCDMA chipset solution has been tested by and successfully validated by all 13 worldwide WCDMA infrastructure vendors.

The chipset solution is reported to be the first to achieve voice, circuit and packet data interoperability with all WCDMA infrastructure vendors, enabling a wide range of handset manufacturers to offer wireless devices that will seamlessly operate on any WCDMA network in the world.

According to Pineda, Qualcomm has shipped a total of 1 billion chips since 1994 worldwide.

He pointed out that CDMA registered a strong growth in India, North America, South Korea and Japan as well as in China.

CDMA subscribers around the globe topped 64.5 million by the end of September with 59 telecom operators worldwide adopting the CDMA system, according to CDMA Development Group, a US-based Industry Association with over 110 members.

As for Nokia's involvement in developing CDMA chips, Pineda said he is optimistic about his company keeping its leading position in the market. "We welcome the competition,'' he said.

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