China, Wi-Fi fight for WLAN standard

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 04, 2004

China, Wi-Fi fight for WLAN standard

A months-long trade dispute over WLAN (wireless local area network) technique worsened on January 30 when foreign chip producers rejected Chinese standard and threatened to stop exporting Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) chips to China.

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Foreign chip producers turned down Chinese standard

The dispute began on November 26, 2003, when the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Administration of China jointly issued the "2003 No. 110" "proclamation on the implementation of compulsory national standard on WLAN". In the proclamation the state banned importation, production and sales of the WLAN products that are not in conformity with the national standard as from 1 February 2004. As to the products already imported, produced or on valid contacts before 1 December 2003, the time limit for importation, production and sales is extended to 1 June 2004.

Then it was followed with the "2003 No.113" proclamation to impose compulsory certificate attestation on WLAN products, namely beginning from 1 June 2004, products not certified will not be allowed to be produced, imported, sold or used in other business activities.

The dispute triggered by the Chinese standard focuses on China's demand to add China-designed data encryption technique into short-distance wireless computer network, a technique accessible to only 24 Chinese companies at present. While foreign Wi-Fi producers have to cooperate with Chinese companies if they want to get the technique.

As a result, foreign chipmakers must make a choice of either rejecting Chinese standard or cooperating with Chinese enterprises.

The Chinese standard will be implemented compulsorily as from June 1 this year, while foreign chipmakers began to take a strong stand. On January 30, the world largest WLAN chip provider Rroadcom said the company, at present, had no plan to use Chinese encryption technique.

Members of the Wi-Fi Alliance include wireless semi-conductor makers, wireless product makers, computer system providers and software makers. Now China has five member companies in the Wi-Fi Alliance, among them the Top Global Technology Ltd being the country's first company to join the organization. The Wi-Fi Alliance grants Wi-Fi certificates to all products that passed the tests of compatibility and interoperability. According to a Wi-Fi director, the Wi-Fi chip producers would consider stopping selling Wi-Fi chips to China.

The new-generation "Centrino" chip by Intel is adapted with direct wireless functions. As estimated, 80 percent laptops would have imbedded wireless net interface card by the end of 2004. Cisco has made WLAN one of the four newly developed products with its eyes riveted on the high-end market. Microsoft also put out its "wireless access point" device for family use. Many chipmakers take a sitting-on-fence attitude towards China's WLAN standard.

Intel's China division said cautiously that during the six-month period laid down by the new policy, Intel would on the one hand keep normal operations and on the other take actions according to the policy changes and keep on active contacts with all sides as well.

Chinese standard to be imposed compulsorily

China's unveiling of its new standard shows that the country refuses to accept the security system already included in the Wi-Fi standard, but would use its own technology instead. China also keeps it an absolute secret in regard with its security technology, or most technological details of the national standard.

The national standard eyes every WLAN manufacturer equally well because every one of them can improve their products according to the standard requirement, a spokesman of the standard making panel said. If they refuse to upgrade, they are not only irresponsible for the applicability of their products in the hands of their clients, but also contemptuous of the national compulsory standard and in that case they must be punished. Reporter confirmed from related officials that the new standard must be implemented on schedule even after news came out that Wi-Fi producers were considering suspending their chip sales to China.

Chinese standard eyes on the security

Among the world's 16,000 international standards 99.8 percent are made by foreign institutions, an expert said. But China has formulated 19,278 standards of its own. China's implementation of its new standard is for the country's WLAN security, therefore it must be insisted.

China has huge market potential for WLAN, the expert said, and absence of its own standard will make it hard for the government to regulate the market. The security of WLAN, if not properly handled, will jeopardize the safety of family network, enterprise informationization, e-government and even state information infrastructure. The timely issuance of the national WLAN standard will not only guarantee the infrastructure construction for information security, but also promote WLAN application in various economic fields so as to form a more orderly WLAN environment.

By People's Daily Online

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