CCTV questions China Mobile 4G claims

China Mobile, the country's most active supporter of homegrown 4G TD-LTE technology, has failed to live up to its claims of super-fast data transmission on its 4G network, China Central Television (CCTV), the State broadcaster, reported in a television program aired over the weekend.

The telecom carrier, the country's largest in terms of subscriber base, touts in billboards and radio advertisements that a faster 4G era has arrived with China Mobile's 4G network capable of reaching speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps).

However, the CCTV report said that test results by the center for Internet monitoring and analysis at the China Academy of Telecommunication Research of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed that the actual real-life average speeds ranged from 1.79 Mbps to 27.52 Mbps in three different places in Beijing.

Tests conducted by the center in an undisclosed number of cities across the country all indicate China Mobile has failed to deliver on its claims of being capable of offering a 100 Mbps 4G network, the CCTV program uncovered.

The speed at 100 Mbps is merely a peak data transmission rate rather than a general promise for users, China Mobile was quoted as saying in a statement sent to CCTV.

Various factors including network capacity, hardware capabilities of devices used to access the network, and user numbers would affect the speed users actually experience, the carrier said in response to questions e-mailed by the Global Times.

The carrier also said in its e-mailed response that "we deeply understand that the establishment and improvement of the 4G network cannot be accomplished overnight," pledging further efforts to provide its users with faster and more convenient network services.

Data transmission speeds on the 4G networks of China Unicom and China Telecom were also found to be almost on a par with that of China Mobile, but the two smaller operators perform less impressively in terms of their 4G network coverage, according to the State broadcaster.

"There are many such tests," Wen Baoqiu, spokesman for China Unicom, told the Global Times on Sunday referring to the 4G network speed test.

"It's inconvenient for us to comment," Wen said.

China Unicom's promotion of its 4G services on its website eschews any mentioning of delivering speeds up to 100 Mbps, but instead uses general claims about a faster network, broader coverage and better experience.

The mention of "100 Mbps" in China Telecom's advertising is only used after the words "utmost speed" which shows it is not a false promotion, a company source familiar with the matter who requested not to be named, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The utmost speed only refers to the theoretical maximum, the source said.

The theoretical maximum speed of 100 Mbps has been unachievable worldwide so far, Xiang Ligang, CEO of telecom information portal cctime.com, told the Global Times on Sunday, citing a range of factors including the number of users sharing the network and the use of different gadgets.

But Xiang stressed "telecom operators should make it clear in their advertisements that the figure is only theoretically possible to avoid the impression of mass achievability."

China Mobile's being targeted by the CCTV report also reflects the nation's 4G landscape, that has been predominantly invested by the telecom behemoth, which officially launched its 4G network in 16 cities across the country in December 2013 and has a plan to reach more than 340 cities at the end of 2014.

China Telecom and China Unicom, which rolled out their 4G services in February and March, respectively, have been less enthusiastic about moving to TD-LTE-based 4G upgrading although all of the country's three carriers were granted TD-LTE licenses in December 2013.

The duo intends to wait for the granting of FDD-LTE licenses before fully unlocking their 4G investments, but it risks losing the initiative in a fast-changing 4G era, Xiang remarked.

FDD-LTE is a rival 4G LTE standard that has been more widely deployed globally.

The FDD-LTE licenses are expected to be launched as soon as later this month, forecast Ma Jun, chief analyst at Guiyang-based Huachuang Securities Brokerage Co.

"A full-scale 4G war would only take place after the two smaller carriers truly commit to the 4G push following the expected approval of FDD-LTE licenses," Ma said.