--FILE--modelli posano con 4G smartphone presso lo stand di China Unicom durante il XV Cina Hi-Tech Fair di Shenzhen, sud Chinas nella provincia di Guangdong,
--FILE--Models pose with 4G smartphones at the stand of China Unicom during the 15th China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen, south Chinas Guangdong province, 17 November 2013. China has awarded 4G licences to China Mobile Ltd, China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd in a widely expected move that will benefit industry players from telecom equipment makers to Apple Inc. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued licences for the TD-LTE standard to the countrys three carriers, according to the ministrys website on Wednesday (4 December 2013). The announcement only mentions licenses for the TD-LTE standard, not the FDD-LTE standard which is more widely adopted globally. The licences will mostly benefit China Mobile, whose 4G network is heavily based on TD-LTE. The ministry also awarded China Mobile a license to operate fixed-line broadband services, according to the company. Previously, only China Unicom and China Telecom were able to offer fixed-line broadband. China Mobile, the countrys largest mobile carrier by subscribers, has trailed behind its smaller rivals in attracting users to its home-grown 3G standard due to its poorer network service. It also does not have a distribution deal for Apples iconic iPhone. China Mobiles 3G subscribers accounted for just 23 percent of its total subscribers as of the end of October, compared with 42 and 54 percent for China Unicom and China Telecom, respectively.
