China Mobile’s LTE Network Coming in December, Could Boost iPhone Sales

According to the Chinese government run news publication Xinhua, China Mobile will be the first carrier to offer 4G LTE in the country on December 18th, TechCrunch is reporting. China Unicom and China Telecom, the country’s other two major carriers, will be the next in line to get the technology.

It took Apple years to negotiate with the Chinese government to finally secure the license needed to run the iPhone on China Mobile’s proprietary wireless network in September. And now that LTE is coming to China next month, it is believed it would boost iPhone sales in the region, since the company will be able to offer versions of its two latest iPhone models i.e iPhone 5S and 5C, compatible with TD-LTE, the 4G standard used by China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier with 760 million subscribers.

“Once it (China Mobile) starts selling iPhones, Apple may enjoy a significant boost in sales and regain some of the market share it has lost to Android. From China Mobile’s perspective, offering iPhones (and other handsets) that support TD-LTE is a valuable tool to convince users to spend more time on its networks.

Xinhua says that 4G will be available first in Beijing, Guangzhou and Chongqing. Shanghai residents will have to wait longer for an upgrade because the city is building its own 4G network.”

China Mobile has announced it will spend a whopping $30.1 billion on its network to bring LTE in China.