China Mobile to Step Up Cooperation with 3G Smartphone Vendors

­China Mobile is planning to step up its cooperation with mobile phone manufacturers  in the hope of improving performance in the 3G market. China Mobile is hampered by the fact that it is the sole network in the world using the TD-SCDMA format for 3G services, meaning its access to popular handsets is limited.

Although China Mobile’s GSM customer base dwarfs that of its rivals 2G services, they are more evenly matched in terms of 3G subscribers with both Unicom and Telecom able to offer premium smartphones that aren’t compatible with China Mobile’s network.

“We hope mobile phone makers will launch more TD handsets with high quality and innovative technologies. China Mobile will also expand products and services distribution channels, to allow customers to buy TD devices from both our outlets and partners’ sales networks,” Li Yue, general manager of China Mobile said. He made the remarks at China Mobile Terminal Industry Chain Summit in Beijing.

The mobile network has also announced it will begin orders for more than 200,000 TD-LTE devices before the end of this year to support its emerging 4G network.