Foxconn International Holdings a division of top Taiwan electronics parts maker Hon Hai, said on Friday it will develop handsets based on the TD-SCDMA standard and expects its first orders when the technology is in use next year. The parent of China Mobile -- the world's largest mobile operator in terms of users, catering to a market of almost half a billion -- is spending around $3.1 billion to build a TD-SCDMA network, which some expect to go into widespread commercial use in late 2007.

TD-SCDMA -- Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access -- is China's homegrown third generation mobile telecoms standard, offering faster Internet access than second-generation digital technology used by most cell phones. European and American firms are focused on the better established W-CDMA and CDMA2000 standards. But several local and foreign vendors are researching and rolling out equipment based on the Chinese technology.

Foxconn makes phones under the brand names of global giants Nokia , Motorola , and Samsung .

Besides Foxconn, Taiwan's BenQ -- the world's sixth largest cell phone vendor -- has expressed interest in developing TD products.