Bids are in for China's first TD-LTE tender

Nine vendors have submitted bids for China Mobile’s first commercial TD-LTE tender, according to Chinese press.

As well as the big five firms Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens and ZTE, lesser-known local players Datang, Potevio, Fiberhome and New Postcom are also taking part.

Samsung’s networks group, which had been invited to bid, did not submit a proposal by the August 16 deadline, Sina Tech reported Tuesday.

In this first stage of network rollout, China Mobile is planning to deploy 20,000 base stations in 13 cities: Beijing, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Xiamen.

Most of the bidders were offering their own equipment, eschewing OEM gear, Sina said.