China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on February 27 announced the release of FDD-LTE licenses to China Telecom and China Unicom.

MIIT released TD-LTE licenses to China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom in December 2013 and approved experimental TD-LTE/FDD-LTE convergence network test by China Telecom and China Unicom in main cities around China in June 2014. The two mobile telecom carriers have experimental TD-LTE/FDD-LTE networks in 56 cities, proving their feasibility, MIIT indicated.

There are about 300 FDD-LTE and 30 TD-LTE mobile telecom carriers around the world, and the release of FDD-LTE licenses will enable China's 4G development to keep abreast of global trends, MIIT said.