China Mobile is planning to commence TD-LTE trials in as many as half a dozen cities.

As per reports citing, Chairman Wang Jianzhou, equipment for what would be the world’s first metro TD-LTE trials is in place and the company is waiting for MIIT approval. The operator has a TD-LTE trial network for the past six months at the Shanghai Expo, which closed last week.

As per Mr. Wang, TD-LTE had progressed faster than expected, mainly because of the massive growth in data services in China, and the fast take-up of smartphones. Many foreign operators were interested in the trials, which would take place in three to six cities.

According to reports, the operator has deployed 3,000 base stations in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen and Xiamen.

According to the analyst, He Tingrun, chip development was the weakest link in the TD-LTE value chain, and the government also needed to offer incentives to handset manufacturers. The government-owned research institute CATR last month began testing 2.6GHz TD-LTE chips.