China Mobile set to launch LTE

Cellular giant China Mobile’s Hong Kong division will launch commercial 4G LTE on Wednesday, the company announced in a statement.

China Mobile promised a choice of LTE handsets and peak download/upload speeds of up to 100Mbps/35Mbps.

The announcement brings forward the 4G live date significantly, after the parent company said it would introduce LTE based on FDD/TDD technology in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) by the fourth quarter.

The cellco operates pre-commercial LTE networks in several mainland Chinese cities, and its announcement represents its first commercial launch of the technology.

It will be the second Hong Kong operator to evolve to 4G following Telstra subsidiary CSL’s phased network launch in 2010/2011, while the territory’s other three cellcos – Hutchison (3), PCCW and SmarTone – will also switch on LTE networks this year.