IHS Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | China Mobile is boosting the construction of its TD-LTE network. |
Implications | The trial will be a significant step towards the launch of commercial 4G services in China. |
Outlook | Judging by the experience of 3G, it may take a while for commercial services to appear in the country. |
China Mobile, China's largest mobile operator, plans to roll out TD-LTE network interface cards in the second half of 2011, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. The maximum internet speed is expected to reach over 10-fold of the present 3G network access speed, the paper cited an insider of the telecom operator as saying. China Mobile will also launch terminal procurement for its TD-LTE pilot in the near future, said the paper. The carrier will boost TD-LTE network construction, and aim to start commercial trial of the network in seven Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen by the second quarter of 2012.
Outlook and Implications
•TD-LTE Trial: Having rolled out a 3G network based on the home-developed TD-SCDMA technology, China Mobile has started preparing for further network upgrade. The operator conducted limited scale of TD-LTE trial at the World Expo 2010 event in Shanghai, during which visitors were able to enjoy advanced mobile services including ultra-high-speed internet access and HD TV. In December last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MII) gave approval to China Mobile to begin large-scale tests of the TD-LTE technology. The expansion of the TD-LTE trial is a significant step towards the launch of commercial 4G services in China. However, judging by the experience of 3G, it may take a while for commercial services to appear. According to the MII, the commercialisation of TD-LTE will not begin by the middle of next year (see China: 5 January 2011: China Mobile to Expand TD-LTE Testing). China Mobile's plan to launch commercial trial of its TD-LTE network is in line with the guidelines given by the MII. China Mobile is also keen to push the TD-LTE technology to the wider international markets. During the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, China Mobile announced the formation of the Global TD-LTE Initiative to promote development of the TD-LTE. The operator has also agreed with several foreign telcos, such as Vodafone, Softbank and Bharti Airtel, to jointly develop the TD-LTE technology standard.
•3G Growth Trend: The latest statistics released by the operators demonstrated the strong momentum of China's 3G subscriber growth, following the operators' extensive network roll-outs. The country's three major operators were issued 3G licences in early 2009 and have since invested aggressively into building the advanced network infrastructure currently in place in China. China Mobile led the market with 22.63 million 3G mobile subscribers at end-January. At the same time, China Unicom and China Telecom had 15.47 million and 13.64 million 3G customers, respectively. So far, China Mobile's leadership in the 3G segment was partly thanks to its first-mover advantage, as the operator was given the regulatory permission to roll out TD-SCDMA trial networks long before its rivals were approved to start 3G network roll-outs. China Mobile's existing mobile subscriber base and extensive sales channels have also helped the operator gain 3G subscribers. Nevertheless, there have been wide-spread customer complaints about the slow speeds and unreliable connections on its 3G network, which is based on the home-developed TD-SCDMA technology. China Unicom's W-CDMA services, in comparison, are much faster and more reliable. China Unicom's exclusive rights to sell Apple's iPhone devices also helped the operator attract high-end users to its 3G services.