State-owned telecommunication firm China Mobile has entered the third phase in the development of its TD-LTE networks.
The project includes the construction of 700,000 4G stations scattered nationwide. China Mobile already has 500,000 stations constructed; the additional 200,000 stations are for wider coverage in China's cities and towns.
Aside from the enhanced capacity of the entire system, the added stations will mean better internet services in non-urban locations in eastern China.
The current 500,000 4G stations built were finished in September, and their completion was made possible by a 2.4 billion yuan ($392 million) invesment by the government.
To date, the existing stations cover over 300 cities across the country. With the rising popularity and declining prices of smartphones, the number of internet users in the country's rural areas has also increased.
China Mobile services nearly half of the smartphone users scattered throughout the central, western and eastern provinces in China. The company reported in 2013 that the rate of data usage of rural users increased by 115 percent, while that of urban users was between 40 and 80 percent.
With 27 million more subscribing to the company's 4G service in the third quarter, China Mobile has over 40 million 4G subscribers by the end of September. Competitor China Unicom gained 14 million more 4G subscribers, while China Telecom lost around 5.3 million in the given period.