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The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT） on December 4 issued 4G licenses to the country’s three telecom operators—China Mobile， China Unicom and China Telecom.
They will adopt China’s homegrown 4G technology， Time-Division Long-Term Evolution （TD-LTE）. The MIIT said it will also issue licenses for Frequency-Division Duplex LTE （FDD-LTE） when the time is ripe.
As far as consumers are concerned， the 4G network will bring faster mobile Internet speed， which can be up to 10 times faster than the 3G network， more high-definition videos and more applications. In the 4G era， both foreign and domestic telecom equipment providers will see more business opportunities and a rise in profitability， while the economy will find new growth points.
Lucrative profits
Among the three major telecom operators， China Mobile has taken the lead in the 4G field. The telecom giant has invested 41.7 billion yuan （$6.87 billion） in over 100 cities and plans to expand the 4G network coverage to more than 300 cities.
Hu Ying， an analyst from Hongyuan Securities， believes the issuance of 4G licenses means large-scale network construction will start in 2014. Both China Mobile and China Telecom intend to spend 45 billion yuan （$7.41 billion） on building their 4G networks， while China Unicom plans to spend 10 billion yuan （$1.65 billion）. It will take three to five years to put the 4G infrastructure in place， and the total investment scale can be as high as 500 billion yuan （$82.35 billion） to 1 trillion yuan （$164.7 billion）.
In the process， telecom operators will have to purchase large amounts of network devices， and cellphone terminals will need to be upgraded and renewed. With faster mobile Internet speed， software enterprises will be propelled to develop more quality application programs， which will push the development of the entire telecom industry.
“The 4G network will drive terminal and chip manufacturing， and software development，” said Liu Cheng， a professor at the School of Economics and Management of the University of Science and Technology Beijing. “Companies engaged in telecom value-added services and information technology will become the largest beneficiaries.”
Liu noted that in the first three years after the 3G network was popularized， it generated investments of 455.6 billion yuan（$75.04 billion）， terminal services of 355.8 billion yuan （$58.6 billion） and 1.23 million jobs. ZTE and Huawei， China’s two largest multinational telecom equipment makers， will be the first to benefit from the rollout. ZTE’s strong service team and rich overseas experience will help in winning 4G business. The company is capable of providing 4G solutions ranging from wireless access， core networks， terminals and chips to business platforms and services， especially wireless base stations.
In addition， Cisco and IBM want to have a slice of the 4G cake.
Imminent reshuffle
There are 1.2 billion mobile phones currently in use in China. As Liu estimated， no less than one 10th of the users would use 4G handsets by 2014， which will lead to a reshuffle in the mobile phone manufacturing industry， said Liu.
In the 1990s when the 2G network began to expand in China， Nokia， Motorola and Philips dominated the mobile phone market. Since 2009， when 3G mobile Internet services swept across the country， the big three have quickly lost market to new stars like Samsung， Lenovo， Huawei， Coolpad and Apple.
Failure to keep pace with the technological leap of the communications industry led to the fall of the then three giants. When 3G mobile Internet services became popular，Chinese consumers not only used mobile phones as a tool for voice communication， but also to access the Internet on-the-go.
While people can make video calls using 3G mobile phones by installing social network software like QQ and WeChat， the speed and image quality are not satisfactory. With the 4G network， video websites will find more development opportunities， and online education is likely to spread to more people.
The 4G network makes it possible for cellphones to remotely control computers through certain applications， which enables new kinds of interactions from long distance. Some people have even suggested the phasing out of cable television， as we can receive all the channels through 4G signals.
Eyeing the huge profits generated by the 4G business， smartphone vendors are scrambling to launch corresponding terminals. Some mobile phones from Huawei， ZTE and Samsung are already available in the business halls of China Mobile. Yet， aside from faster mobile Internet speed， these handsets do not have any significant difference from the previous 3G versions.
Network contest
There is controversy surrounding the MIIT’s decision， since the 4G licenses are based on the TD-LTE standard， which is mainly developed by China Mobile. It’s worth mentioning that China Mobile has started the construction of 4G network base stations one year in advance， which is unfair to China Unicom and China Telecom. When 3G licenses were issued in 2009， China Mobile was designated to promote the homegrown TD-SCDMA network， while China Unicom and China Telecom got the permission to use WCDMA and CDMA2000 standards， which are mature technologies.
Faced with an incomplete TD-SCDMA industrial chain， China Mobile lost millions of customers to China Unicom and China Telecom. Despite the fact that it has more than 100 million users， the utilization rate of its 3G network is lower than 15 percent in many provinces. According to its 2012 financial report， only one fourth of data traffic came from its 2G and 3G networks.
This time， the laggard in the 3G battle is making up. At the beginning of this year， China Mobile announced a plan—expanding the coverage of the TD-LTE network to 100 cities， purchasing millions of sets of TD-LTE terminals， building 200，000 4G base stations， and covering a population of 500 million. In other words， it targeted at constructing the world’s largest 4G network.
Considering the lessons learned in the 3G era， China Mobile is reluctant to adopt the homegrown TD-LTE network alone. That explains why the MIIT included all of the three major telecom providers into the TD-LTE standard.
However， the decision is against the interests of China Unicom and China Telecom.
“China Unicom has agreed to stick to the existing FDD-LTE network，” said Chang Xiaobing， President of China Unicom， at its 2012 results announcement conference.
It will only take 10 billion yuan （$1.65 billion） to upgrade its current 3G base stations to 4G. Therefore， it’s not necessary for China Unicom to run two parallel standards of 4G network.
On the other hand， China Telecom doesn’t have such an edge. Even its 3G network has not yet achieved profitability， not to mention building up a brand-new 4G network. The operator， therefore， might need to rent 4G networks of other carriers under competitive pressure.
Compared with TD-LTE， China Telecom also prefers to get a FDD-LTE license. Now， executives from the two telecom providers are busy lobbying the MIIT to issue FDD-LTE licenses as soon as possible.
They will adopt China’s homegrown 4G technology， Time-Division Long-Term Evolution （TD-LTE）. The MIIT said it will also issue licenses for Frequency-Division Duplex LTE （FDD-LTE） when the time is ripe.
As far as consumers are concerned， the 4G network will bring faster mobile Internet speed， which can be up to 10 times faster than the 3G network， more high-definition videos and more applications. In the 4G era， both foreign and domestic telecom equipment providers will see more business opportunities and a rise in profitability， while the economy will find new growth points.
Lucrative profits
Among the three major telecom operators， China Mobile has taken the lead in the 4G field. The telecom giant has invested 41.7 billion yuan （$6.87 billion） in over 100 cities and plans to expand the 4G network coverage to more than 300 cities.
Hu Ying， an analyst from Hongyuan Securities， believes the issuance of 4G licenses means large-scale network construction will start in 2014. Both China Mobile and China Telecom intend to spend 45 billion yuan （$7.41 billion） on building their 4G networks， while China Unicom plans to spend 10 billion yuan （$1.65 billion）. It will take three to five years to put the 4G infrastructure in place， and the total investment scale can be as high as 500 billion yuan （$82.35 billion） to 1 trillion yuan （$164.7 billion）.
In the process， telecom operators will have to purchase large amounts of network devices， and cellphone terminals will need to be upgraded and renewed. With faster mobile Internet speed， software enterprises will be propelled to develop more quality application programs， which will push the development of the entire telecom industry.
“The 4G network will drive terminal and chip manufacturing， and software development，” said Liu Cheng， a professor at the School of Economics and Management of the University of Science and Technology Beijing. “Companies engaged in telecom value-added services and information technology will become the largest beneficiaries.”
Liu noted that in the first three years after the 3G network was popularized， it generated investments of 455.6 billion yuan（$75.04 billion）， terminal services of 355.8 billion yuan （$58.6 billion） and 1.23 million jobs. ZTE and Huawei， China’s two largest multinational telecom equipment makers， will be the first to benefit from the rollout. ZTE’s strong service team and rich overseas experience will help in winning 4G business. The company is capable of providing 4G solutions ranging from wireless access， core networks， terminals and chips to business platforms and services， especially wireless base stations.
In addition， Cisco and IBM want to have a slice of the 4G cake.
Imminent reshuffle
There are 1.2 billion mobile phones currently in use in China. As Liu estimated， no less than one 10th of the users would use 4G handsets by 2014， which will lead to a reshuffle in the mobile phone manufacturing industry， said Liu.
In the 1990s when the 2G network began to expand in China， Nokia， Motorola and Philips dominated the mobile phone market. Since 2009， when 3G mobile Internet services swept across the country， the big three have quickly lost market to new stars like Samsung， Lenovo， Huawei， Coolpad and Apple.
Failure to keep pace with the technological leap of the communications industry led to the fall of the then three giants. When 3G mobile Internet services became popular，Chinese consumers not only used mobile phones as a tool for voice communication， but also to access the Internet on-the-go.
While people can make video calls using 3G mobile phones by installing social network software like QQ and WeChat， the speed and image quality are not satisfactory. With the 4G network， video websites will find more development opportunities， and online education is likely to spread to more people.
The 4G network makes it possible for cellphones to remotely control computers through certain applications， which enables new kinds of interactions from long distance. Some people have even suggested the phasing out of cable television， as we can receive all the channels through 4G signals.
Eyeing the huge profits generated by the 4G business， smartphone vendors are scrambling to launch corresponding terminals. Some mobile phones from Huawei， ZTE and Samsung are already available in the business halls of China Mobile. Yet， aside from faster mobile Internet speed， these handsets do not have any significant difference from the previous 3G versions.
Network contest
There is controversy surrounding the MIIT’s decision， since the 4G licenses are based on the TD-LTE standard， which is mainly developed by China Mobile. It’s worth mentioning that China Mobile has started the construction of 4G network base stations one year in advance， which is unfair to China Unicom and China Telecom. When 3G licenses were issued in 2009， China Mobile was designated to promote the homegrown TD-SCDMA network， while China Unicom and China Telecom got the permission to use WCDMA and CDMA2000 standards， which are mature technologies.
Faced with an incomplete TD-SCDMA industrial chain， China Mobile lost millions of customers to China Unicom and China Telecom. Despite the fact that it has more than 100 million users， the utilization rate of its 3G network is lower than 15 percent in many provinces. According to its 2012 financial report， only one fourth of data traffic came from its 2G and 3G networks.
This time， the laggard in the 3G battle is making up. At the beginning of this year， China Mobile announced a plan—expanding the coverage of the TD-LTE network to 100 cities， purchasing millions of sets of TD-LTE terminals， building 200，000 4G base stations， and covering a population of 500 million. In other words， it targeted at constructing the world’s largest 4G network.
Considering the lessons learned in the 3G era， China Mobile is reluctant to adopt the homegrown TD-LTE network alone. That explains why the MIIT included all of the three major telecom providers into the TD-LTE standard.
However， the decision is against the interests of China Unicom and China Telecom.
“China Unicom has agreed to stick to the existing FDD-LTE network，” said Chang Xiaobing， President of China Unicom， at its 2012 results announcement conference.
It will only take 10 billion yuan （$1.65 billion） to upgrade its current 3G base stations to 4G. Therefore， it’s not necessary for China Unicom to run two parallel standards of 4G network.
On the other hand， China Telecom doesn’t have such an edge. Even its 3G network has not yet achieved profitability， not to mention building up a brand-new 4G network. The operator， therefore， might need to rent 4G networks of other carriers under competitive pressure.
Compared with TD-LTE， China Telecom also prefers to get a FDD-LTE license. Now， executives from the two telecom providers are busy lobbying the MIIT to issue FDD-LTE licenses as soon as possible.