Even though LTE is a global standard there are two different air interface flavors: The first one is FDD and pretty much destined to be used around the world. And then there is TDD, for the moment mostly foreseen to be used in China. However, many European operators have acquired TDD spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band during the 3G auctions back in 2000. So while I haven't heard anyone talking about this so far, I wonder if LTE TDD might be something of interest to European carriers!? In that regard, does anyone know if the TDD band in China is anywhere near the TDD region that was auctioned in Europe? Might be a great push for dual mode FDD and TDD devices.
3 thoughts on “LTE TDD in China and Europe?”
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I think that dual mode TDD and HD-FDD (half duplex FDD) is more likely from a device point of view, which would support global roaming in China/Europe/U.S., as long as the FDD network deployments account for the limitations of the HD-FDD devices.
The lower TDD band in China is 1880-1920 MHz, which is aligned with the WRC allocations but extends 20 MHz lower than WRC. The upper band is 2010-2025 MHz — identical to WRC. 2300-2400 MHz is also designated for TDD expansion.
Recall, though, that only China Mobile is using TD-SCDMA, so it’s somewhat imprecise to think of “China” as using TDD.
Lead European operators are not thinking about TDD as this moment. From a terminal point of view making a dual mode device may not make much economical sense – the demand isn’t high enough to drive a good ecosystem.