Hangzhou takes lead in 4G coverage in China

While 4G users in Beijing complain about the poor coverage, the eastern city of Hangzhou takes the lead in 4G coverage in China. Users can connect to the 4G network in most areas of the city including metro lines.

Reading an article or watching a video on a mobile device becomes faster with a 4G network. Many users in Hangzhou are very happy they have such speed and good coverage. The 4G reception is usually very good in the city.

"The coverage in the main city, where I live and work, is quite good. If we go to the outskirts, the signal will downgrade to 2G or 3G. The speed is quite good, as I use 4G and wifi together." said Ye Zhou, 4G User.

In order to connect to a 4G network, users must have a 4G enabled smart phone compatible with China Mobile's 4G service. With the launch of the 4G enabled Iphone 5S and twenty other models, China Mobile has acquired over 100,000 customers in two months. Most are medium and high-end customers

"Lots of my friends already have 4G phones. I don't want to be left behind. The mobile internet is fast. I can watch videos without having to wait a long time." said Yin Chenglong, Customer.

Hangzhou was the first city to launch 4G trial service in 2012. So far, it has received the highest customer feedback across China.

"We are upgrading 3G base stations into 4G, and our 3G network is good and mature. So we have built 4G network quite fast. Also we invested a lot to optimize the base stations." said Cen Shuwei, Dept. Network Supervisor, China Mobile Group, Hangzhou Branch.

Hangzhou's underground metro is also fully covered by the 4G network. Though most users like having 4G, they say the fees can be extremely high if they watch movies using 4G.

"Reading news is good. But I can't watch movies, as my bandwidth limit expires very fast. I have the highest tariff, 50 gigabytes a month. I can use this up in two days if I do all things with 4G." said Qiu Ningmin, 4G User.

China mobile is the only 4G carrier in the country so far. But the other two competitors, China Telecom and China Unicom both have obtained 4G licenses and also plan to launch 4G services. Wide coverage and competitive prices will be crucial for any of them to outdo the other.