4G concessions within the year, fibre rollout regulations to be relaxed

Chinese 4G licences are due to be issued within the next twelve months, starting with concessions for the home grown Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) platform, Chinese state news agency Xinhua cited Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei as saying. Further, the ministry has agreed to modify building codes to allow fibre-optic cables to be installed in new buildings alongside water, electricity and gas lines, saying that deployment in new constructions costs only ‘a few dollars’ per metre, compared to the high cost of replacing copper connections. For existing buildings, the ministry will allow private enterprises to roll out last mile fibre-optic lines, in line with the regulator’s aims of channelling additional private capital into the sector.