China will soon put its fourth-generation mobile services to commercial application as an attempt to create a competitive edge for homegrown telecom equipment producers.

The new generation services, based on TD-LTE technology, will likely be commercialized by 2012, according to Zhang Feng, a senior official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The technology has been put on an 18-month trial since the end of 2010 in six Chinese cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen, said Zhang, during a briefing on Thursday.

China takes a leading position in research on the technology. The first TD-LTE test network was built on the site of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 by China Mobile Communications Corp., the nation's largest carrier.

Major Chinese telecom equipment providers, including Ericsson AB, Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp, participated in the research. Foreign companies, including Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent took part in the pilot program.

China's TD-LTE technology has won the full support of U.S. electronic manufacturer, Apple Inc., according to Wang Jianzhou, general manager of China Mobile, on Wednesday at the 2011 World Economic Forum.

China is the world's largest mobile-phone market. The country was home to 859 million mobile phone users at the end of last year, more than double the total population of the U.S., according to the industry's ministry.

(CRIENGLISH.com January 27, 2011)