China Mobile plans TD-SCDMA rollout on Apr 1

China Mobile Ltd<941>, the country's largest wireless operator, announced on Friday that it will launch the trial of homegrown 3G wireless standard TD-SCDMA starting on April 1.

China Mobile will commence the trial in eight cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Qihuangdao, said the company in a statement. It will provide 20,000 TD-SCDMA handsets to the picked representatives from different industries to join in the test for TD-SCDMA terminal and network.

Meanwhile, the company will start commercial trial as well. It will offer a 50% discount to the TD-SCDMA subscribers during the trial period.

TD-SCDMA is the biggest breakthrough in China's telecom history and it has filled the gap between the domestic and overseas telecom industry in terms of standard stipulation.