China Unicom inks Openwave agreement

NEWS China Unicom has announced a deal with Openwave to provide subscribers with multimedia, 'near-3G' services. China is already the world's second largest mobile market and the potential for growth has lured all the major device and mobile software companies. Openwave is a provider of mobile browser and unified messaging software. China Unicom's decision builds on its controversial move to upgrade to CDMA2000 technology championed by Qualcomm of the US. Most GSM operators, including Unicom arch-rival China Mobile, are taking the W-CDMA route to 3G networks favoured by European and Japanese operators. Financial details of the Openwave deal have not been disclosed.