China Mobile LTE expansion set to cover 60% of China’s population and 100M 4G LTE subscribers
As China Mobile, the largest mobile carrier in the world, continues to expand its network, Ericsson has signed on as the radio equipment provider for a 14-province expansion of LTE networks.
The two companies signed a framework agreement that will see TDD-LTE technology expanded into Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Gansu, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guangdong Guangxi and Chongquing Municipality.
Those provinces account for around 60% of China’s population and almost 100 million “4G” subscribers live in the coverage area.
“We are honored to be able to continue our contribution to China Mobile’s ongoing efforts to build the largest 4G network in the world,” said Chris Houghton, president of Ericsson North East Asia. “Ericsson is committed to spearheading the continuous evolution of the networked society. We are willing to join hands with China Mobile to promote a smooth upgrade of 4G, TDD technology in particular, to 5G.”
As of May, China Mobile has built 900,000 LTE base stations and provides LTE services to some 200 million subscribers.
Ericsson and China Mobile have a long history of infrastructure development. In 2004, the companies entered into an agreement that saw Ericsson deploy an IP backbone for China Mobile. In 2007, Ericsson won a $1 billion contract with China Mobile to supply core and radio equipment as well as a number of network-related managed services.
Ericsson networks carry an astonishing 40% of mobile traffic around the world and is the market-share leader relative to LTE provision. Ericsson has brought live some 170 evolved packet core networks worldwide.
