Chinese mobile (cell) phone network question

[thewamphyri]

Hello,

Can someone tell me which network type the Chinese mobile network uses? (If you can tell me which one Australia uses as well that would also be very helpful). GSM, CDMA etc..

I wish to buy a new phone - but I am aware there is some incompatibility between what China uses vs what most of the West (in this case Australia) uses - I am aware it is possible to buy phones which will suit both networks, but I need to know the names before I can begin looking.

I tried to find out myself - but the information is too lost in the technobabble for me to understand (or just not there).

Thanks in advance.

Troy

[skylee]

I am aware there is some incompatibility between what China uses vs what most of the West (in this case Australia) uses

I am not aware of this (but I don't live in Mainland China or Australia, or the West). AFAIK both China Mobile and China Unicom, the two major service providers in China, use the GSM systems. Which seems pretty compatible with the Australian system. It appears that there is no 3G in Mainland China yet.

Perhaps you have confused the Japanese system with the Chinese system? Japan does have its own unique mobile phone system. But if you get a GSM phone that supports 3G (I think most phones do nowadays) then you can use it in China, Australia and Japan.

Hope this helps.

PS - information on this website might be useful.

[geeness]

Nonsense.

China Unicom have a 'proper' 3G service, which you could use your 3G phone on, assuming it's compliant with the most popular 3G world standard.

China Mobile are pushing their own unique 3G service, which engineers around the world have stated is clearly protectionist, as the technology itself is rubbish.

In my experience China Unicom's mobile signal is not as far reaching as China Mobile's. But if you're going to be confined to a city, and wish to pay 200yuan per month for an iphone with 3G service for 2 years, with no up front payment (good deal!) then China Unicom is a valid choice.

[skylee]

Glad to know that there is 3G service in China.

[roddy]

Just get a GSM phone.

[geeness]

Just get a GSM phone.

Sure, do this if you have a low-level job. If you're planning on entering China, with intent on being self-employed, and prefer not to be tied to a computer all day - such is the modern way of business - bring a 3G compatible mobile (UK, Europe, etc). Then you will have a significantly better online experience.

[imron]

Australia uses WCDMA for 3G. China Unicom is the only operator that runs a WCDMA network in China. Both countries use GSM for 2G.

If you get a 3G phone through China Mobile (which use the locally developed TD-SCDMA), you will still be able to use it on 2G networks back in Australia (because these phones also support GSM for 2G) so it wouldn't be completely useless, but as mentioned above, only China uses this standard, and it's technically inferior to WCDMA, so best to avoid it.

[m000gle]

China Unicom - GSM with WCDMA 3G (the international standard). I've heard prices are slightly higher, but compared to anything in Australia, North America or Europe they're still quite cheap. This is the best option: 1) if you already own a GSM phone from overseas; and especially 2) if you have/want an iPhone which is ONLY compatible with the 3G on this network. *This is your best option for any data usage*

China Mobile - GSM with TD-SCDMA (as imron mentioned, this is not standardized/used outside of China; limiting any foreign phone to 2G and any Chinese phone to 2G if you bring it back home). *this is your best option for only phone/SMS*

China Telecom - CDMA network (i.e. no SIM card). This may be the cheapest, but you will have to buy a phone here and your phone will not work again overseas due to carrier restrictions. *I can't, in good conscience, reccomend this unless you are extremely price conscious and plan to buy a Chinese phone from them*

Another thing to keep in mind is that if an overseas phone is locked by the carrier back home, it will not be compatible. Unlocking is often relatively easy, especially with smartphones, but not always possible and often voids warranties.

Finally, almost everything here is pay-as-you go (topping-up only when needed), or as a pay-as-you go system with a set monthly deduction from your account (e.g. my Unicom account deducts 66 yuan at the start of each month, giving me 300MB data, 50 minutes and 200 text/SMS messages... anything beyon that works on a pay-as-you go basis and the plan can be cancelled at any time).

- - - - - -

P.S. I'm a bit confused as to why geeness' post has been modded down. His/Her analysis is pretty much in line with my experience here... Although a little more harshly worded than I would have written: it is "nonsense" that Mainland China has no 3G service; it is technically correct that Unicom's 3G is the only one compatible with the international standard; it is pretty much consensus that the only reason for the existence of TD-SCDMA was for a combination of protectionism and to avoid potential royalties being paid to overseas companies; and the Unicom iPhone contract is actually a pretty good deal, assuming the monthly rate is within your budget and you plan to remain for two years or more.

[imron]

I'm a bit confused as to why geeness' post has been modded down

Although a little more harshly worded than I would have written

That's usually the reason.

[thewamphyri]

Thanks all - helpful in the extreme.

I should have mentioned I already have a phone (from Australia) (an old nokia) which works quite well on China Mobile, but I was aware of others who brought phones which would not work here - which is why I asked about the network differences (seems 3g is the issue, or carrier locked by what is written here).

But my phone is old - so time to update, and would prefer something to work in both places.

Thanks

[roddy]

Do you actually want 3G access?

[imron]

Maybe not in China, but if you're going to bring the phone back with you to Australia it might be more useful. I'm still using the 1st Gen iPhone I bought in China many moons ago, which is 2G only, and there are times when it sure would be nice if it was a little faster.

[swell]

I'm also wondering which type of SIM-card I should buy for my one-month trip next week.

Since data connections seem to be quite cheap even for prepaid cards, I'm planning to get a data enabled card for my android phone (which supports GSM/GPRS/EDGA/WCDMA).

Up until now I thought China Mobile's M-Zone card (动感地带) might be the most interesting in my case, but if it only supports 2G (GPRS/EDGE), maybe China Unicom would also be interesting if their coverage is decent. Do you have any ideas about that?

I hear coverage should be (much?) better for China Mobile than for China Unicom. I'm thinking that China Unicom might support 3G (WCDMA), but that they might only have decent coverage in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou? I would be mainly traveling in cities like Chengdu, Changsha, Wuhan, Dalian etc. which are still big cities, but I would probably travel to some smaller cities/towns as well where I would like to be sure to have at least some basic coverage. Maybe it would best stick to China Mobile then?

Thanks.

[edelweis]

@swell

I guess you didn't read the messages above (or perhaps your message was merged into this thread?)

China Mobile does NOT support WCDMA. They have TD-SCDMA. With an M-Zone SIM card you can access 3G but only if your phone supports TD-SCDMA (or you could 2 years ago, I can't imagine they would have restricted it since then) .

@m000gle: geeness不会给面子嘿嘿. When posting in a China related forum it's a bit of a problem isn't it?

[imron]

The question I guess is will you really need high-speed data? If you can live with 2G speeds for data then China Mobile will be your best choice because it has the best coverage out of any mobile providers.

China Unicom has rolled out its WCDMA network in many cities including those you mentioned above. Not sure what the coverage/reception will be like in those cities, but it should at least exist.

[swell]

@edelweis : Yes I understood that China Mobile doesn't support WCDMA. It's more like imron says : I'm just not sure if I should choose better coverage (China Mobile, although only 2G) over speed (China Unicom's 3G). If China Unicom's WCDMA coverage is rather poor, then I might not have any speed advantage anyway. And if the poor coverage also applies to simple 2G connections or even phone reception, then I would rather choose a slower connection that works.

@imron : I don't think I will really need high-speed connections, although the speed difference between 2G and 3G is considerable, and for a lot of apps, although probably usable, 2G simply isn't very comfortable.

Anyway thanks for the advice. Not sure yet what I will get though , but I guess I'll decide when I'm in the shop.

[roddy]

For what it's worth, I always found China Mobile's EDGE service fine - might not be full 3G, but it's a hell of a step up from GPRS.