China Mobile is to use China’s homegrown 3G mobile technology TD-SCDMA to help it compete with rivals China Unicom and China Telecom in the fixed broadband market that targets homes and small offices, reports Interfax-China. “We are working closely with [China Mobile subsidiary] Shanghai Mobile to develop TD-SCDMA routers, which can be used to enable the sharing of TD-SCDMA wireless broadband access by more than one computer,” a source told the news agency, adding that such routers would link to China Mobile’s network through a wireless connection and connect with computers through Ethernet cables or Wi-Fi. An internal trial will reportedly take place in November, with commercial trials scheduled soon after. Successful commercial trials would lead to national rollout, the report says.

China Mobile has already brought trial coverage of TD-SCDMA-based 3G mobile services to 10 cities, and plans to expand that to 38 by the end of June next year, prior to it being awarded a commercial national 3G license.  A move into the fixed broadband market would follow its acquisition of China Railcom, part of the recent government-mandated telecom industry restructuring. Interfax-China notes that China Telecom, which is acquiring China Unicom’s CDMA business, is the dominant broadband provider in southern China, whilst the country’s northern broadband market is dominated by China Netcom, which is merging with China Unicom’s GSM business.