【クララオンラインのアジアITコンサルティングサービス】 中国の３大通信キャリアの一つ、中国移動（チャイナモバイル）が4Gサービスの開始に向けて4G対応スマートフォンの入札を行った。ライセンスは間もなく発給されるとみられ、コンテンツ業界を中心に巨大市場を狙う動きが進んでいる。本レポートでは中国4G市場の全体像を捉え、サービス開始直前の現状を整理した。 ---------------- http://www.clara.jp/consulting/　　　http://www.clara.jp/ その他レポートはこちらhttps://www.clara.jp/asia_report/index.php

1. September, 2013
Clara Online China Internet Report
4G on the rise in China
Clara Online,Inc.
Asia Business Consulting Team
asia@clara.ad.jp
T
he countdown has started towards the launch of 4G services in China. China Mobile has recently undertaken the
issuance
tendering of major smartphones for its 4G services. Also, the issuance of 4G licenses for the telecommunication carriers
is said to be in the pipeline. A number of obstacles, such as the need to increase area coverage and decide on
appropriate pricing structures, are to be expected before a real expansion takes place. However, with positive reviews coming
for
contents
from 4G test users, there are increasing hopes for the dawn of a new era in which the contents industry takes center stage.
1. Licensing in the near future?
3. 4G test runs
Commercial 4G services have not yet officially launched in China and
at the time of writing (May 2013), there are only a handful of 4G test
users. Feasibility testing with a view to commercialization is taking
place in each region and China is currently considering two different 4G
standards. China Mobile intends to deploy TD-LTE (for 3G they use
LTE
TD-SCDMA) while China Telecom and China Unicom have both stated
their intention to adopt FDD-LTE (for 3G they use CDMA2000 and
LTE
WCDMA respectively). TD-LTE is the standard being promoted by the
Chinese government with various domestic telecoms such as China
c
Mobile, Huawei, ZTE and Datang Telecom leading development.
Technically speaking, TD-LTE is almost identical to Softbank 4G's
LTE
AXGP standard. FDD-LTE is used by US telecom companies as well
as the Japanese carriers NTT Docomo and AU.
Taking the lead in 4G, China Mobile has
set up test networks in Shanghai,
Hangzhou,
Nanjing,
Guangzhou,
Shenzhen and Xiamen. Furthermore, it
.
plans to install networks in 10 more
cities in China to achieve coverage
levels of 30-50% city-wide. 4G roaming tests between Shenzhen and
.
Hong Kong are now complete and 4G roaming will be available in
Hangzhou, Wenzhou and Ningbo. In Hangzhou, all subway networks
will have 4G coverage with the city's 2,400 towers providing coverage
for 5,000,000 people across 500 square kilometers. The testing is, at
this point, proceeding fairly well with test users giving favorable reviews
of video download speeds.
The Chinese government has not yet announced the issuanc of the
issuance
new 4G telecommunication licenses but each carrier has already
chosen the terminal and telecommunication equipment suppliers and
those in the industry are predicting that license issuance w go ahead
will
during May at the earliest Moreover, China Telecom has announced
that if the license for FDD-LTE proves to be difficult to obtain, then it will
team up with China Mobile to focus its efforts on TD
TD-LTE instead.
4. Hopes for expansion
2. China Mobile starts to outsource 4G terminals
rce
China Mobile will finalize the bidding
for 4G terminals by May 3 2013,
ahead of other carriers. Huawei,
ZTE and Samsung have apparently
been selected with two devices from
each supplier and one China
Wireless 'Coolpad' smartphone.
The official order prices will be
announced in June 2013. According to China Mobile company plans,
more than 1,000,000 smartphones and mobile data terminals will be
procured in 2013 alone.
In 2013, the 3 main carriers plan to spend 345 billion RMB
(approximately $56 billion USD) between them with China Mobile for its
ly
part announcing a 42 billion RMB (approximately $7 billion USD)
investment in 200,000 4G towers. Suppliers of 4G infrastructure such
as towers have already been selected with domestic suppliers suc as
such
Huawei and ZTE, who have also secured many contracts in Europe,
tending to be favored. Ericsson has 35% of the international
telecommunications equipment market with others such as Huawei
(17%) Nokia Solutions and Networks (15%), Alcatel
), Alcatel-Lucent (12%)
holding significant market share. In contrast, the Chinese market is
dominated by Huawei and ZTE which, according to predictions, only
leaves a small pie for foreign makers to fight over. Indeed, a Chinese
think-tank affiliated with China Everbright Bank expects Chinese
tank
manufacturers to receive 70% of 4G equipment procurement contracts.
China Telecom and China Unicom have been relatively slow in their
preparations for the introduction of 4G but they are expected to receive
their licenses at the same time as China Mobile. At present, no
announcement has been made as to what kind of license will be
awarded to each carrier but once 4G services are launched,
iPhone-supported China Telecom and China Unicom are predicted to
supported
have the edge. For this reason, China Mobile is hurrying to expand its
4G coverage area as quickly as possible. However, the real situation is
slightly different in that 80% of China's smartphone market is Android
with many models available for less than 1,000 RMB (approximately
$163 USD). Smartphone users tend to favor mobile content such as
music, instant messaging, photography and games but this content is
data-heavy making them little used in China. This trend is further
heavy
exacerbated by the lack of fixed data plans. For this reason, the use of
wifi to download music and games at home is much more common.
Due to the current pricing structure, a sudden increase in 4G users is
not predicted in the short-term.
Meanwhile, some sectors are eagerly awaiting the spread of 4G.
Content providers such as the video site Tudou, as well as maps and
navigation services, are all expecting an increase in views.
re
Smartphone games in China are still being made for lower speed
lowerconnections, but once 4G becomes more popular the penetration of
foreign games into the China market will become easier. All that said,
pricing structures are proving to be a key influencing factor in the rate
s
of spread of 4G in China.