The expansion of trial networks to five more cities underlines a growing possibility that China Mobile may adopt TD-SCDMA to run its future 3G networks.

China Mobile, the country's dominant mobile operator, has publicly stated its preference for WCDMA, which is prevalent in Europe. TD-SCDMA is an alternative technology to WCDMA and CDMA 2000, which are popular in Japan and South Korea.

Compared to its two rival foreign standards, TD-SCDMA is considered less mature, something the government would like to improve, hoping the strongest domestic operator will use a 3G network based on the Chinese standard to ensure its success.

China Mobile and China Telecom are widely regarded as the two candidates to run TD-SCDMA commercial networks.

Tao Xiongqiang, vice-president of Potevio, previously known as Putian, a domestic telecom equipment maker, confirmed CMCC could soon expand its TD-SCDMA trial networks to include five more cities.

Potevio and Nokia have formed a joint venture to develop and manufacture network equipment based on both the WCDMA and TD-SCDMA standards.

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