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Sony announces the Xperia SP M35t, its first TD-LTE device for China Mobile
Announced alongside the Xperia C just now is the TD-LTE version of the Xperia SP (M35t), and naturally, it's headed to China Mobile, which pretty much owns the technology right now. Like before, the device comes with a 4.6-inch 720p plus a touchscreen that works fine with gloves. Additionally, NFC and the iconic illuminating transparent element are still present. Not much was said about the detailed specs, though, so we're not sure if it's the same chipset inside. Again, stay tuned for further announcements.
China Mobile plans widespread rollout of TD-LTE network, 20,000 base stations to be operational this year
China Mobile announced a deal with Clearwire last fall to speed up the rollout of its TD-LTE network, and now China's largest wireless provider has revealed some additional details about when that rollout will take place and just how big it will be. Speaking at Mobile World Congress, China Mobile president Li Yu said that the company will have over 20,000 TD-LTE base stations in operation by the end of this year, and a full 200,000 up and running by the end of 2013. That initial deployment will occur in the six trial cities already announced, as well as three additional cities confirmed at MWC: Beijing, Tianjin and Qingdao. Two of those cities, Hangzhou and Shenzhen, are expected to have full TD-LTE coverage of their urban areas this year, while the others will have more isolated coverage until the next phase of the deployment begins.
Sprint, Clearwire among companies asking for TD-LTE standard in WiMAX spectrum
Clearwire has made it crystal clear that it isn't taking a "WiMAX or die" approach to 4G -- and frankly, it couldn't afford to, considering that the infrastructure suppliers and hardware manufacturers could easily continue their trend toward shunning the next-gen underdog. What's interesting, though, is that the company now appears to be taking a very active role in developing an LTE-based standard that could supplant WiMAX in its 2.6GHz spectrum should the need arise. Along with Motorola, Huawei, ZTE, Cisco, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent, and -- surprise, surprise -- Clearwire partner Sprint, the company is asking the 3GPP to define a standard for running TD-LTE in the 2.6GHz slot. Unlike the more commonly-used FD-LTE -- the standard Verizon is using, among others -- TD-LTE operates unpaired, meaning it can operate in slimmer chunks of spectrum than its counterpart. Asking for a standard is clearly a far cry from actually building out a network, but it's interesting to note that Clearwire and Sprint alike both have their eyes firmly fixed on an LTE-based technology if the WiMAX industry packs it in.
