China Mobile plans industrial park for Beidou system

SHENYANG -- China Mobile, China's largest mobile carrier, has started construction on an industrial park in Northeast China to boost the application of China's indigenous global navigation and positioning network, the Beidou Navigation Satellite System.

The Liaoning province subsidiary of China Mobile confirmed Tuesday that the China Positioning Industrial Park, with an investment of 3 billion yuan ($480 million), will host software developers, terminal producers and information service providers related to the application of Beidou, which is also known as the Compass System.

China has launched 16 Beidou orbiters into space. The indigenous global satellite navigation system and positioning network is expected to weaken dependence on such services on the US-maintained Global Positioning System when it is put into service in the first half of 2013.

By the end of September, China Mobile had 40 million registered GPS users, with the annual revenue from the sector hovering around 200 million yuan.

China Mobile said the industrial park in Liaoning, which is designed to cover 13 hectares in the provincial capital of Shenyang, is projected to realize an output value 40 billion yuan by 2015.

The company plans to team up with its partners in the park to provide comprehensive navigation and positioning solutions for government management, transportation and logistics flow as well as for big financial and commercial customers.