Expansion to increase competitive pressure on China Mobile
China Telecom and China Unicom are each set to expand their FDD-LTE/TDD-LTE hybrid network trials to 15 additional cities in a move that should add further competition to China’s “4G” market.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved the expansion plans that will see each carrier’s hybrid network reach 56 cities. For China Telecom, the expansion is set for Shaoxing, Taizhou, Changzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Yancheng, Qingdao, Tangshan, Baoding, Dalian, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Wuhu and Yulin. China Unicom will see its network expand to Foshan, Quanzhou, Weifang, Wenzhou, Fuyang, Wuxi, Yichang, Hengyang, Guilin, Langfang, Linfen, Nanchong, Weinan, Nanyang and Nantong.
China Telecom, which is the country’s third-largest mobile operator, said it had 1.33 million customers on its LTE network at the end of the third quarter. China Unicom, the country’s No. 2 wireless carrier, said its 3G and LTE network attracted 4.9 million customers during tQ3.
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, has already launched commercial TDD-LTE services in China, having earlier this year slashed pricing for access in an attempt to spur adoption. China Mobile recently said it had 50 million LTE subscribers, with plans to have 150 million customers on the network by the end of next year and 300 million customers by the end of 2016.
China Mobile’s LTE network runs across a total of 130 megahertz of spectrum that China’s government had set aside for the deployment of the service. That spectrum is spread across the 1880-1900 MHz, 2320-2370 MHz and 2575-2635 MHz bands. China Unicom and China Telecom received 40 megahertz each of wireless spectrum in which to launch TDD-LTE services, with China Unicom’s spectrum in the 2300-2320 MHz and 2555-2575 MHz bands, while China Telecom’s spectrum is in the 2370-2390 MHz and 2635-2655 MHz bands.
All three of China’s major mobile carriers have reported slowing customer growth, mostly due to falling 2G connections that are not yet being made up by growth in 3G and LTE services. China Mobile is reportedly looking to ditch its TD-SCDMA-based 3G network that uses a controversial homegrown standard to focus investments on its LTE-based network.
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