China Mobile is responsible for setting up TD-LTE, a China-developed version of LTE (Long Term Evolution), trial networks in seven main cities around China, and has selected Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as equipment suppliers for the trial networks in Shanghai and Hangzhou respectively, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

China Mobile has also selected China-based fellow suppliers Huawei Technologies, ZTE and Datang Telecom Technology for Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Nanjing respectively, leaving suppliers for Xiamen and Beijing to be selected later, the sources indicated.

China Mobile will undertake indoor and field trials and tests at 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz frequency bands for one and half years in each city, with tests including HD video watching and 3D game playing, the sources pointed out.

NSN's R&D center in Hangzhou is setting up a TD-LTE ecosystem, covering procurement, R&D, production, testing and maintenance, the sources noted.

As TD-LTE has become a new global LTE-TDD (time division duplexing) 4G standard, Alcatel-Lucent is making efforts to provide state-of-the-art TD-LTE solutions for China Mobile and will undertake interoperability tests with various vendors of terminal devices, the sources quoted Alcatel-Lucent's Asia Pacific president Rajeev Singh-Molares as saying.