Chinese media is reporting that China Telecom has been granted a trial FDD LTE license, and is likely to receive an official operating license early next year.
If the reports are accurate, China Telecom will be able to start construction of a trial network ahead of the award of an official license.
But a China Telecom spokesperson told Hong Kong's The Standard that the company has not yet received any notice from telecom authorities. The reports also do not mention whether China Unicom is due to receive an FDD license.
If the reports are accurate, an FDD license could help China Telecom reverse a recent slump in subscriber figures – the company lost 950,000 subs during April – and help it better compete in the mobile market against its larger rivals.
Forbesnotes that over the past five months, China Telecom's share of the Chinese mobile market has fallen 60 basis points to 14.4%.
By comparison, China Mobile's share has grown by 20 basis points to 62.4%, thanks in part to the head-start it has had in the 4G market due to the government's decision to award TD-LTE licenses first. China Unicom's share has meanwhile increased 40 basis points to 23%.