The International Summit on Future Mobile Communication and MOCCA-WWI Project Workshop

On the morning of Oct. 18, 2005, the International Summit on Future Mobile Communication and MOCCA-WWI Project Workshop was held in Shanghai International Convention Center.

The theme of the two-day Summit was “Future Mobile Communications Technology”. Attendees of the Summit included government officials in relevant future mobile communications departments from China, Japan, South Korea and the Europe Union, key technical personnel from Beyond 3G mobile communications programs, leaders form relevant international standardization organizations and technology forums as well as experts from famous European and Asian mobile communications operators, telecom manufacturers, universities and research institutes. Keynote speeches, presentations, group discussions were provided to study and research the prospects and strategy of future mobile communications development. Topics discussed in the Summit included planning and progress of Beyond 3G technology R&D in China, South Korea and Japan, technology and market demand in Beyond 3G mobile communications, Beyond 3G frequency allocation, application of 4G technology in 3G evolution systems and broadband radio access systems, status and prospects of broadband radio access technology, planning and progress of Beyond 3G standardization research, the international cooperation in Beyond 3G field, research of Beyond 3G in telecom enterprises, the 3G evolution, etc.

The International Summits on Future Mobile Communications have been successfully held in 2002 in Beijing, 2003 in Seoul and 2004 in Tokyo respectively. Mr. Feng Jichun, Director General of the Department of High and New Technology and Industrialization of Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Mr. Wen Ku, Director General of Science and Technology Department of Ministry of Information Industry (MII), Mr. Xie Feibo, Deputy Director of the National Radio Administration Bureau and Mr. Li Yiping, Director of the Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai Municipality as well as high-level officials from the European Union, Korea and Japan attended this Summit and delivered important speeches.

Mr. Feng Jichun, Director General of the Department of High and New Technology and Industrialization of MOST, said that MOST has been paying close attention to the international cooperation in the mobile communications field. Early in 2001, MOST has initiated the FuTURE project (one of the important Beyond 3G projects in 863 program). Currently, fruitful results have been achieved in this project. Future mobile communications will face more complicated environment and higher technical requirements and it is important to develop beyond-3G technologies with an international effort.

Mr. Wen Ku, Director General of Science and Technology Department of MII also stated that MII has spared no effort to develop China’s mobile communications industry. It has facilitated the development and commercial operation of GSM and CDMA mobile systems. MII also worked together with MOST and NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) to organize the R&D and trails of 3G mobile communications systems and has greatly accelerated the development and industrialization of 3G mobile communications technologies. MII has established close partner relationships with relevant government organizations in Asian and European countries. MII encourages the cooperation between domestic and multinational enterprises as well.

The R&D in Beyond 3G mobile communication system will trigger higher-level convergence and development of mobile communications technology and Internet. This also represents the future trend for broadband-based, mobile and personalized information technology. The development of mobile communications products is currently limited by several factors, such as the environment, the technology and etc. Developing beyond-3G mobile communications technology will need much more money and human resource than what has been input to develop 3G technologies, that's another reason why we must start international cooperation. International cooperation will help the consensus building in this field and spread the cost of developing beyond 3G technologies amongst the partners, thereby lowering financial risks. This Summit played an important role in further bridging the government and the enterprises and helping to form the partnerships in the area of information communication technology.

Future mobile communications systems include access systems like cellular systems, fixed wireless access systems, roaming systems, WLAN systems, etc. The maximum transmission capacity of future mobile communication systems reached 100 Mbps and 1Gbps in the high speed and low speed moving environment respectively. In addition, cellular systems, WLAN, satellite radio and television broadcast systems can also be seamlessly integrated. With this technology, people will be connected anyone, anywhere at any time.

Nowadays, many countries have focused their research on the next generation mobile systems (Beyond 3G). In the 2007 World Radio Conference (WRC’07), a frequency band will be allocated for Beyond 3G Mobile Communication System. This will usher the research and development of technical standard and industrialization of the new generation radio mobile communications. The Chinese government has been paying close attention to the development of mobile communications industry. In 2002, a joint declaration was signed by MOST and the EU information department. Later, MOST signed the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Korean Ministry of Information and Communications, Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) successively. In addition, MOST encouraged and supported the Chinese enterprises in their Beyond 3G international cooperation. Several R&D projects were also launched jointly by Chinese and foreign research institutions. At the 2004 ministerial meeting held in Japan, agreement was reached on the organizing of this Summit, which is the follow-up Summits will rotate annually among China, Japan and South Korea. This has been recorded in the minutes of meeting.

Just one day before this Summit (Oct. 17), FuTURE Mobile Communications Forum was set up in Shanghai. The Forum, will act as a think-tank helping to guide Chinese development and adoption of beyond-3G technologies. The Forum aims to facilitate the synchronized development and adoption of Beyond 3G technologies in China and other countries and the establishment of this forum also marks the Chinese government’s dedication in developing future mobile communication technologies.

It is reported that the MOCCA-WWI workshop will be held on Oct. 20-21, the main topic of which is the latest development of the eight wireless communications projects in the EU 6th. Framework Programme.

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