The third-generation (3G) mobile phone service is ready for use in the upcoming Beijing Olympics as the high-speed wireless connection service and related products were formally delivered on Monday.

China Mobile, China’s top wireless operator, and South Korean cell phone producer Samsung presented 15,000 3G handsets, plus data cards and nearly 3 million yuan (about 428,600 U.S. dollars) of calling fees, to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29th Olympic Games here on Monday.

With the offer, work staff and volunteers of the Games can enjoy high-speed data transmissions, which allow them to watch televised games, play videos, and surf the Internet on cell phones.

The service is based on the Chinese 3G standard, known as TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access).

China Mobile has basically finished construction of the TD-SCDMA network in eight cities, five of which are to host events for the Beijing Olympics in August, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, said the company.

China has promised to provide 3G service for the Games. China Mobile is the sole cooperative partner for the Beijing Olympics in mobile communications services while Samsung is the only one in mobile terminal supply.

China Mobile started the commercial trials of 3G services in the country in April.

The International Telecommunication Union recognized TD-SCDMA as one of the world’s three official 3G standards in 2000. The other two are Europe’s WCDMA and North America’s CDMA 2000.

Vodafone, China Mobile and Japanese carrier Softbank announced an agreement to establish a joint innovation lab to promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services. The partners expect the initiative will help to increase usage of mobile Internet services.

In a statement, the three carriers said they plan to use the joint venture “as a platform to develop mobile services and drive innovation and synergy in the industry.”

The lab will focus on projects based on emerging technologies and market demand. The companies said that initially, they plan to use the lab to develop a platform for mobile widgets.

The establishment of the lab is subject to regulatory approvals and certain customary closing conditions.

Nokia, a leading mobile telecommunications infrastructure supplier, and China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile), the world’s largest GSM operator, have today signed a frame agreement for the purchase of Nokia GSM/GPRS network system equipment. The agreement, valued at EUR 580 million for the full year and for which deliveries have already started, further strengthens Nokia’s cooperation with China Mobile and reaffirms Nokia’s leading position in GSM network and mobile softswitch system deployments in the Chinese market.

Under the frame agreement, Nokia will supply China Mobile GSM/GPRS radio and core network equipment, including base stations and Nokia MSC Server mobile softswitch, for network expansions in China during 2006. In addition, Nokia will provide professional services, including network planning, implementation and care services for the network expansion. Deliveries have already started.

“The frame agreement reaffirms China Mobile’s trust in Nokia and our capability to provide complete solutions. Nokia is well positioned and fully committed to support operators exploring the potential of GSM networks. We can help operators to prepare for future network evolution with the unique end-to-end capability of our unified core network, multi-access solutions, handset leadership and services offering,” says James Lin, Vice President, Networks, Nokia China.

“We are extremely pleased with our cooperation with Nokia,” says Sha Yuejia, Vice President of China Mobile.

Nokia’s strategic cooperation with China Mobile started in 1994. Since then Nokia has provided GSM networks to over 20 of China Mobile’s provincial affiliates. With Nokia’s support, China Mobile has realized many industry firsts in China, including the first international GSM roaming network, the first GSM call, and the first multimedia service with a Nokia device supporting MMS.

Nokia leads the 3GPP compliant mobile softswitch market in China, and is a leading GSM network supplier in the Chinese market with over 20 provincial customers and 100 million mobile lines, of which 20 million are provided by mobile softswitching.