Ericsson – the world’s number one mobile network vendor – is strengthening its partnership with China’s Datang, giving a further boost to the emerging TD-LTE market.  Although both companies set up a joint research centre in Beijing in January 2008 to carry out research into TDD technology, Ericsson claims today’s new ‘strategic cooperation’ takes the relationship between the two parties “to a substantially new level.” A statement notes that the move “will increase the industrialisation capabilities of TDD solutions by achieving economies of scale, improve the interoperability of operators’ 2G/3G/4G networks, and provide support to a successful commercial launch of TD-LTE in China in the near future.”

As part of the new deal, Ericsson will start integrating Datang’s TD-SCDMA radio access network kit into its own 3G offering. TD-SCDMA is the 3G technology being deployed by China Mobile (the world’s largest operator), although it is China Mobile’s planned future deployment of TD-LTE – the upgrade to TD-SCDMA, and the unpaired ‘version’ of the more common FDD variant of LTE – that is being most closely watched. Ericsson’s apparent support of TD-LTE gives the technology a major boost, at a time when it is already beginning to generate interest outside of China. Initially regarded as just the Chinese version of LTE, TD-LTE has recently been linked to deployments in Taiwan, India and the US. Indeed, Ericsson’s statement today noted that its deal with Datang is aimed at delivering “richer mobile communications to consumers in China and around the world.”