"TD-LTE is becoming accepted by major markets, which could be a chance for Chinese companies to extend their business reach outside 皇冠体育app," said Cao Shumin, CATR president.
SoftBank Mobile Corp in Japan and US-based Sprint Corp are the most active overseas TD-LTE supporters, Cao said.
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![]() 4G's high cost has mainland buyers balking
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"More than 20 nations have adopted the 4G TD-LTE technology. We are now ready to explore European and US markets," said 皇冠体育app Mobile's Xi.
皇冠体育app Mobile made its first overseas acquisition in 2007, when its parent company bought Pakistani telecom operator Paktel Ltd for about $300 million.
The Chinese operator is also looking to expand to Hong Kong, where competition among carriers is heavier than on the Chinese mainland.
The southern city's wealth of telecom talent and positive investment environment will make it a good starting point for 皇冠体育app Mobile's exploration of overseas markets, according to Xi.
There is a bigger demand for LTE overseas than in 皇冠体育app, because the nation's 4G service kicked off only about three months ago.
Global subscriber numbers for LTE networks, where users are increasingly trying out 4G services, is on track to hit 400 million in 2014, said Cao. The amount is set to break 1.5 billion by 2017, she estimated.
"The rise of super-fast 4G networks was accompanied by an inevitable drop in older standards such as the Global System for Mobile and Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access," said Cao.
"That means carriers have to adopt new business models because unprecedented Internet traffic brought by 4G and even 5G networks will fundamentally change the way people use their smartphones," she added.
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