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.

Two of the world’s leading music companies have partnered on a joint venture in China that will research and develop technology for distributing media to mobile phones.

The revelation Tuesday, sees Sony BMG Music Entertainment and the Warner Music Group join forces to invest in Access China Media Solutions, in what Warner dubbed “a strategic investment”.

Access – a joint venture between Japanese company, Access and US firm, Melodeo – creates software that makes the user’s experience of downloading music, video and ringtones, an easy experience. China currently has around 460 million mobile users and the pair are betting that as mobiles become more sophisticated, they will play an increasingly important role in entertainment.

Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business at Sony BMG said: “We think a good chunk of those consumers will be looking at their phones as an entertainment device.”

According to a press release from Sony and Warner, the pair will be focusing closely on Chinese oriented music.

Sony and Warner will also be keen to examine how to make China’s music market, which is rife with piracy, more secure. Michael Nash, senior vice president of digital and business development at Warner Music said: “Physical piracy in China is an enormous problem that’s created a crisis around investment in repertoire and artists.”

Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group (Datang Group) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Beijing that further reinforces Alcatel’s commitment to support China’s home-grown 3G standard, TD-SCDMA. This MOU complements an initial agreement that was concluded between Datang Mobile and Alcatel Shanghai Bell in November 2004.

According to the MOU, Alcatel and Datang Group will work closely together to drive TD-SCDMA development. Specifically, the MOU reinforces the cooperation that currently exists between the two companies in the areas of sales, marketing, industrialization, research and development of TD-SCDMA products and technologies for the domestic China market. Alcatel will assist the Datang Group abroad and support this global effort by taking advantage of its worldwide presence in over 130 countries. Finally, the MOU includes joint development of LTE (Long Term Evolution) products and technologies.

The signature of this MOU is a demonstration of the confidence both companies place in the future of TD-SCDMA and of their intention to become leading providers of TD-SCDMA when 3G arrives in China and well-positioned to capture a number of market opportunities.

In November 2004, Alcatel and Datang Mobile, a subsidiary of Datang Group, signed an agreement to invest in the industrialization of TD-SCDMA in China. In April 2005, Alcatel Shanghai Bell and Datang jointly demonstrated a live end-to-end TD-SCDMA solution during the TD-SCDMA International Summit in Beijing. In August 2005, the two companies finished the TD-SCDMA industrialization and announced readiness for large-scale commercial deployment. In March 2006, Alcatel Shanghai Bell and Datang jointly established a TD-SCDMA lab to provide a real network environment dedicated to interoperability testing between GSM and TD-SCDMA applications.