China Mobile to encourage rivals to use TD-LTE

China Mobile is hoping that at least one of its two domestic rivals will take up its 4G standard, Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE). According to Sina Tech, which cited a leaked internal e-mail, the cellco is determined not to be in the ‘minority’ and intends to encourage the use of TD-LTE by either China Unicom or China Telecom. As noted by TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, China Mobile has been hindered by its decision to use the home-grown TD-SCDMA platform for its 3G rollout: as the only operator to use the technology, the cellco had limited support from vendors and suffered from a dearth of compatible handsets. China Mobile has subsequently sought to drum up support for the TD-LTE standard as opposed to its direct competitor Frequency Division-LTE (FD-LTE) to prevent a repeat of its 3G experience. Sina Tech also quotes the leaked missive as saying that the platform’s success depends on having a greater number of TD-LTE operators, adding that it will be ‘difficult to succeed’ if there are too few, as the support of chip makers is crucial.