Several of China Mobile's regional branches have reportedly started switching off 3G-only base stations due to the unpopularity of the homegrown TD-SCDMA standard and the operator's focus on 3G.
Branches in multiple provinces have started closing base stations that only support the TD-SCDMA standard, Caixin Onlinereported,citing sources including an unnamed person who provides operation and maintenance services for the operator.
The decision has not come from the head office, suggesting that regional branches are making the decisions on their own.
Base stations that cannot be upgraded to 4G are expected to be closed and the rest retooled to support TD-LTE.
The government-backed TD-SCDMA standard never really took off among China Mobile subscribers and provided slower data rates than the CDMA2000 and W-CDMA standards adopted by rivals China Telecom and China Unicom respectively.
China Mobile's operating statistics show that as of the end of January, the operator had some 162.9 million remaining 3G customers, compared to around 335.6 million on 4G - representing around 80% of China's total 4G subscriber base. The operator's total subscriber base was 828.5 million.