China Mobile to launch high-speed 4G net cards

China Mobile has launched large-scale telecommunications technology testing of the fourth-generation (4G) of its Time Division-Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) in seven cities. Soon it will launch 4G net cards in the latter half of this year. The 4G cards are 10 times faster than the third-generation (3G) net cards, according to the company on March 7.
A large-scale TD-LTE testing network, consisting of more than 1,000 base stations, will be completed in the seven cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Beijing in 2011, according to China Mobile.
It will also launch TD-LTE net cards for users to experience in the second half of 2011. The net cards can realize a peak Internet connection speed of 100 megabytes per second, more than 10 times faster than that of 3G net cards.
The testing terminal procurement is expected to start soon. The 4G cards scheduled to achieve the commercial use by the year 2012, still in the seven aforementioned cities, based on the potential construction after the testing period has passed.
The TD-LTE technology, the development of which was led by China, was approved to be an international 4G telecommunications standard in October 2010, becoming one of the two mainstream international 4G standards, such as LTE FDD (Frequency Division Duplex).
Wang Jianzhou, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) member and chairman of China Mobile Communications Company, has advanced some relevant suggestions during NPC and CPPCC.
He suggested that central government should formulate TD-LTE development plans, policies and commercial use plans as soon as possible and provide the TD-LTE network with particular support in terms of communication frequency planning, given the development strategy of China's IT industry.
By Li Yancheng, People's Daily Online
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