The latent regulations for the TD-SCDMA development in China: Socio-technical translation process study for the third 3G standard

In this article we will investigate what kind of regulative bodies within China were formed and how they have acted. This is the principal research question. We use the TD-SCDMA development from standard definition phase to deployment as a beacon that elucidates which Actors came together to oversee regulatory actions and how they influenced the regulation decisions towards the emerging market. Because the regulative framework and processes in China appear different from those in the USA and the EU we call the Chinese approach latent regulation, This addresses the rules, principles or policies that were the actual factors or reasons formulated for most of the decision making processes during the build-up of China TD-SCDMA networks. From the methodical point of view we consider this a process of social-technical translation among actors, such as government ministries, political organizations (Communist Party of China, CPC), university professors, and the telecom industry. That is, we have not confined the analysis to the government. To understand the paths which have been taken, the sociology of translation was applied and the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) with its four steps of translation used. The Actors in the case studies shown in this research can be broadly categorized into three groups: the government related organizations /departments, the telecom operators, the telecom equipment /handset manufactures. This kind of analysis has revealed several unique hidden latent regulatory choices or decisions that were taken using this path.