Huawei Favors New Construction Rather than Upgrade for TD-LTE
Century Weekly, 7/22/13
Ryan Ding, CEO of Chinese telecom equipment and terminal manufacturer Huawei's Carrier Network Business Group, revealed in a recent interview that Huawei believes construction of a new TD-LTE network, as opposed to upgrading existing operator 3G networks, is the best option for China Mobile's (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) TD-LTE network moving forward. Huawei has previously neither expressed support for new network construction nor network upgrade methods of TD-LTE deployment, but has now joined the ranks of European telecom equipment providers Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent in supporting new TD-LTE network construction. Chinese rival ZTE (0763.HK; 000063.SZ), the world's leading supplier of TD-SCDMA equipment, is pushing China Mobile for a network upgrade-based strategy.
Ding also expressed the company's wishes that European companies will participate in the construction of China's 4G network.
According to China Mobile insiders, senior executives within China Mobile are divided over how to carry out the operator's TD-LTE deployment, with Chairman Xi Guohua and VP Liu Aili supporting construction of a new TD-LTE network, while President Li Yue supports an upgrade of the existing 3G network. The tone at recent executive meetings has shifted in favor of new TD-LTE construction, with both Xi and Liu emphasizing that the operator's 3G network can exist as a valuable independent network.
China Mobile has reportedly released instructions to its provincial subsidiaries stating that new TD-LTE construction on the F band (1880MHz - 1920MHz) will be the company's primary focus, along with network upgrades. China Mobile's provincial subsidiaries have been mandated to carry out upgrades as they see fit, and will select their own balance of new construction vs. network upgrade TD-LTE deployment, depending on provincial conditions.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Nokia Siemens Submits Lowest China Mobile 4G Base Station Bid" MD 7/16/13 issue and "Rumor: China Mobile 4G Base Station Bids Included 3G-to-4G Upgrades" MD 7/18/13 issue.
Keywords: Liu Aili Li Yue Xi Guohua China Mobile wireless network construction Huawei CHL TD-LTE 0941.HK Ryan Ding mobile network equipment 4G
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