China Mobile is reported to have issued a new tender for the supply of 40,000 TD-SCDMA handsets and begun its marketing push for the imminent launch of 3G services during the Olympic Games in Beijing next month. Chinese news agency Xinhua notes that the world’s largest operator (by subscribers) has opened a latest tender for TD-SCDMA handsets that will include mobile TV compatibility based on the China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) standard. Mobile phone manufacturers including Lenovo, ZTE, Samsung and Coolpad are believed to be involved. Meanwhile, television commercials and display advertising in Beijing’s subway system begun appearing this week for the TD-SCDMA Olympic service, encouraging users to sign up for the trials. The operator has not yet announced when the service will officially launch. Initial handset suppliers are reported to include Motorola, Haixin, LG, Lenovo and Samsung.

DigiTimes last week noted that China Mobile intends to subsidise TD-SCDMA handsets and services in an attempt to improve sales of the devices both before and during the Olympics. TD-SCDMA is a homegrown Chinese 3G standard competing with globally deployed commercial standards W-CDMA and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO. TD-SCDMA is believed to be a strong contender for the Chinese government’s technology of choice when it awards commercial 3G licenses after the Olympics. Last month it was reported that the country’s Ministry of Information and Industry (MII) has urged China Mobile to sign-up more than 100 million subscribers to its TD-SCDMA service in the next three years.