China issued long-awaited 4G licenses to three telecommunications carriers on December 4 which would offer mobile internet access 20 to 50 times faster than the current 3G network and create a new trillion-yuan market for devices and services. China Mobile launched 4G services in Shanghai, Beijing and 11 other cities before the end of last year and will expand to 340 by the end of 2014. Xi Guohua, Chairman of China Mobile, said that the company will build 500,000 4G base stations across China in 2014, constituting the world’s largest 4G network. The company currently has about 200,000 4G base stations. Users can upgrade to the 4G network without changing phone numbers, China Mobile said. It has been testing 4G networks for two years. China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom all got 4G licenses based on the time division-long term evolution (TD-LTE) technology. China Unicom and China Telecom also got approval to test another 4G technology, frequency division-LTE (FD-LTE), which is mainly used in overseas markets. China will issue FD-LTE 4G licenses later, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said. China Mobile also got the approval to operate fixed-line business including family broadband, which makes it possible to launch bundled services, the Ministry added. The initial investment for 4G will reach CNY500 billion in a few years. By 2019, China is expected to have 700 million mobile subscribers on 4G, making it the world’s biggest 4G market, according to equipment maker Ericsson. China Mobile plans to launch 50 new 4G phones in the first half of the year, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The new 4G license will likely benefit China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless network operator, more than its peers. The company was first to conduct 4G TD-LTE trials in various cities, including Beijing and Guangzhou. It is now investing heavily to expand the reach of its high-speed mobile network across the country. China Mobile is hoping the 4G network expansion will increase the number of high-paying subscribers using mobile data services. The operator announced seven upgraded data packages for 4G services that will take effect from February 1. The cheapest monthly package starts from CNY40 for 400 megabytes, and the highest costs CNY280 for a 10-gigabyte package. All seven data packages can be shared among various devices. China Mobile will charge users CNY0.29 for every extra megabyte beyond those in the packages.

China Telecom released its 4G brand on December 10. It will commence 4G services in China in the first quarter of 2014. China Unicom said its 4G network will largely rely on FDD-LTE technology, the other mainstream 4G telecommunication standard that is widely adopted globally. Lu Yimin, General Manager of China Unicom, said the company plans to launch 150 models of 4G smartphones in 2014. China Mobile aims to sell 100 million 4G phones this year or 190 to 220 million 3G and 4G phones combined, compared with 155 million 3G phones last year. “There will be more than 200 models that are 4G. Every one can afford it because some cost less than CNY1,000 each”, said China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua. China Mobile also launched a new 4G brand called “He”, Chinese for “harmony” on December 18. China Mobile will spend more on subsidies this year as it tries to boost smartphone sales by as much as 42% and lure customers to its new high-speed service.