China Mobile is ramping up plans to trial TD-LTE technology in Taiwan, with news that it is collaborating with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and the country’s National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) for tests in May. According to an NSN statement today, this move will be the “first trials in the region of the TDD variant of LTE.” Chung-Yu Wu, president of NCTU, said: “This trial network is a perfect example of how industry-university partnerships can nurture new technology. China Mobile will bring its operational experience and application support to the trial, Nokia Siemens Networks will contribute its leading technologies and products, and NCTU will take advantage of this research program to help Taiwanese companies develop LTE devices.” In addition, the NSN statement noted that NSN and NCTU are working together on development of future mobile technology LTE-Advanced.

Earlier this week it was announced that China Mobile and Taiwanese mobile operator Far EasTone have signed a memorandum of understanding that will see them jointly build a test network based on TD-LTE technology in Taiwan. China Mobile is keen to see TD-LTE build a global presence in addition to its status as the next-generation technology of choice for the world’s largest operator in its home market. In addition to Taiwan and China, India and the US could also potentially become home to TD-LTE. TD-LTE is the unpaired ‘version’ of the more common FDD variant of LTE.