The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has granted 4G licenses to China Unicom and China Telecom, the country's second and third largest telecom service providers, in a bid to enhance the dissemination of information in the country.
The ministry said that the granting of the 4G licenses will allow the two companies to build bigger networks and provide consumers with better services. The move is also expected to lower the price of 4G services.
In a conference on Feb. 26, the ministry announced that the government is adding more than 200 million 4G telecom network users this year.
Many analysts see the government issuance of the 4G licenses as advantageous for the two firms which are expected to convert their 3G users to 4G users. However, this development will not affect the 4G market, which is mostly under the leadership of China Mobile, the dominant player.
Peter Liu, a telecom analyst for tech research Garter Inc., said that with the new licenses, China Unicom and China Telecom can now both expand their services and client base around the country.
Three mobile telecom carriers have been issued TD-LTE 4G in December last year, and in June 2014, the MIIT approved the pilot testing of TD-LTE/FDD-LTE convergence networks of China Telecom and China Unicom.
The MIIT said that neither China Telecom nor China Unicom adopted the TD-LTE technology, which made China Mobile the leader in the 4G market, being the only player.
The agency said that there are approximately 97 million 4G users in the country in 2014, and 90.06 million of them are China Mobile subscribers.