Telecom Lead Asia: China Mobile is planning to sell 55 million 3G handsets this year.
As of October, China Mobile had sold 41.59 million TD-SCDMA 3G network handsets, the release said. During the same period, the company attracted 79.3 million 3G subscribers, the most among China’s three telecom carriers.
About 300 mobile phone makers, including Samsung, HTC, Huawei and ZTE, have developed mobile devices for China Mobile’s 3G network. The TD-SCDMA product line has covered entry-level handset to high-end devices.
Nokia will introduce its flagship mobile phone Lumia 920 to China Mobile’s 3G network on Wednesday. Nokia Lumia 920 is a smartphone running on the Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system.
Meanwhile, China Mobile plans to start commercial operations of its converged LTE FDD/TD network in Hong Kong on December 18, China Daily reported.
China Mobile will become the first Chinese telecom carrier to offer 4G services in the country. The Hong Kong network is also Asia-Pacific’s first network to combine two 4G technologies: LTE FDD and TD-LTE.
In July, China Mobile selected ZTE Corp and Sweden-based Telefon AB LM Ericsson, to build a converged LTE FDD/TD network in Hong Kong.
China Mobile launched 4G services using the LTE FDD network in April. TD-LTE technology will be added to the existing LTE FDD network to build a dual-mode network.
The Hong Kong combined 4G network is the first commercial TD-LTE network set up and operated by China Mobile, and because of that, it will play a critical role in the company’s overall plan to promote TD-LTE technology both at home and abroad.
Recently, 4G chipmaker Sequans Communications announced that its chips are powering a significant portion of the LTE devices to be used in the next phase of China Mobile’s large-scale trial of TD-LTE technology in China. Two of Sequans’ device manufacturer partners, Nationz and Primemobi, were awarded portions of the contract as recently announced by China Mobile.
