telecom - China Unicom backs out of first 3G-tests

For the upcoming rush towards the deployment of the third generation mobile communication, China Unicom seems to be the first casuality. One of its top managers said the smaller of the two current mobile providers did not participate in the first purchasing order for TD-SCDMA phones, AFX writes. China Mobile, China Telecom and China Netcom do participate.
Unicom was always expected to have not enough deep pockets to rollout a nationwide 3G system by itself and a combination with China Netcom has been suggested. Since not participating would mean a certain death in the long run, perhaps Unicom will try to focus on expanding its current GSM or CDMA from 2 into 3G.