China is expected to offer services on its fourth-generation (4G) mobile phone network this year, a senior official said.
"China
has made breakthroughs in R&D of 4G technologies, but is still
facing restrictions in commercial use," Miao Wei, minister of industry
of information technology, said Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing
annual session of the country's national legislature.
China needs
to speed up base station construction and provide more terminal
products, which require greater financial and technological input,
Xinhua quoted him as saying.
"We will promulgate supporting
policies at an appropriate time to guide the construction and
development of the 4G network," Miao added.
In early February, two
cities in east China's Zhejiang province launched a 4G mobile phone
network for commercial use on a trial basis, marking a new age of
high-speed mobile internet in the country.
With a 500-yuan ($80)
deposit, subscribers to China Mobile in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang,
and Wenzhou, can access the service.
China Mobile, China's largest
mobile operator, employs TD-LTE technology, or Time Division Long Term
Evolution, one of two international standards, for the 4G network.
Its maximum Internet speed is up to 10 times faster than 3G.
4G
user should be able to download a 10-megabyte piece of software in two
seconds, and a two-gigabyte HD movie in several minutes.
With the
advancement of 4G technology, 4G wireless cards and 4G mobile phones are
expected to be ready for commercial use this year.
China Mobile
began building a trial 4G network in several Chinese cities, including
Hangzhou, in 2011. The city is currently home to over 2,400 4G base
stations, covering an area of around 500 square km.
The minister also reiterated that China will further encourage private investment in the telecom industry.