China Mobile and Vodafone team up to push for 4G

Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile telecommunications company (measured by revenue), and China Mobile the world’s largest measured by subscribers, recently signed a Strategic Co-operation Framework Agreement to continue to cooperate in various areas of their business including: exchanges in corporate management and in technical and operational expertise.

In a report by Sina, Wang Jianzhou, Chairman of China Mobile and Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone Group, signed the agreement at the China Mobile-Vodafone Strategic Co-Operation/CEO Forum which took place during Mobile World Congress. Top of the agenda for the two companies are enhanced roaming services, multinational customers, green technology, network roadmap management, and joint innovation, research and development.

The telecom companies will also promote converged LTE technology and LTE terminal development as the industry takes the next step in mobile broadband: 4G. During MWC, Wang witnessed the launch of the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI), which aims to promote the deployment of TD-LTE networks as a standard 4G mobile technology throughout the World.

Both companies hope to be able to improve their competitiveness and raise their influence on an international scale. Wang believes that the key to the 4G era is convergence and unit–a coordinated union towards a single goal, and the agreement to collaborate with Vodafone is a step in the right direction.