IMT-2000 standard to include synchronous mode

The Ministry of Information and Communication finally has decided to introduce synchronous transfer mode as a required technical standard for International Mobile Telecommunications-2000, the next generation mobile telecommunications system.

In particular, the ministry set a policy to exclude one of the three companies applying for IMT-2000 service, in case all of the three prefer the European asynchronous standard rather than the government plan.

The synchronous system that uses code division multiple access is an American platform furnished largely by Qualcomm, while the European asynchronous format adopts wide-band CDMA2000.

The ministry repeatedly had said that it would let the telecommunications companies make their own choices of the technical standards, but it intervened in the issue positively, reversing its earlier policy. The decision indicates that the government will take an active hand in the course of inducing the companies to adopt the synchronous format.

The ministry¡¯s decision came Tuesday in a meeting of the Information-Communication Policy Deliberation Committee under its wing.

A ministry official said that the committee confirmed a plan to divide the IMT-2000 service providers into one adopting asynchronous system and the other choosing synchronous mode.

He also said that the committee had decided to bestow favors on the service providers who choose the synchronous standard within the boundary of related laws and rules and World Trade Organization regulations.