The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) approved Thursday the second stage of a trial for the nation's fourth-generation (4G) technology -- TD-LTE.

During the trial's second phase, the focus will be testing system equipment based on 3GPP's R9 specification and multi-mode chipsets that support a comprehensive range of telecommunication and data communication standards, according to the MIIT.

China is the major promoter of the TD-LTE standard and is also a major owner of the standard's core patents. As China's largest wireless service provider, China Mobile has been pushing for TD-LTE, or "Time Division-Long Term Evolution," to become a globally accepted standard.

TD-LTE can substantially lower bandwidth costs and allow faster broadband wireless services than the current 3G network.

3GPP is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations with the initial scope to make a globally applicable 3G mobile phone system specification.

Huang Xiaoqing, who heads China Mobile's telecommunications research institute, said that during the trial period, more emphasis will be given to network quality and user experiences. Meanwhile, the TD-LTE network is expected to extend to nearly 20,000 base stations during the second stage.

Huang revealed that the government is expected to roll out some new policies during the second stage of the trial, however, he did not provide further details.

Development of TD-LTE technology, initiated and led by China, has become one of the three major 4G standards that also include the U.S.-led WiMAX and LTE FDD in Europe.

Huang said that TD-LTE has been widely recognized by telecommunication equipment makers and operators. So far, 33 TD-LTE trial networks have been built in North America, Europe, and Asia. Mobily, a leading mobile operator in Saudi Arabia and Japan's Softbank have even officially started commercial use of TD-LTE networks.

Zeng Xuezhong, senior vice president of ZTE, a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, said as of the end of November, the company has cooperated with 29 telecommunication operators in constructing TD-LTE networks around the world, among which seven companies have launched the commercial use of the network.

"The bandwidth cost of the TD-LTE is only one tenth of that with the LTE-FDD, which means an important opportunity to develop TD-LTE," Zeng said.

During the Consumer Electronics Show held at the beginning of this year in Las Vegas, major chipmakers, cell phone makers, and wireless service providers agreed on building a global industrial chain for TD-LTE in efforts to push forward the development of mobile Internet.

However, some device manufacturers and operators said that China still has not drawn a clear timetable for the commercialization of TD-LTE, which might cause TD-LTE to fall behind other 4G standards in being taken up.