China Mobile owns most of the nation's GSM base stations and operates one of the world's most efficient GSM networks. The number of China Mobile's GSM stations is more than double the carrier's TD-SCDMA 3G base stations. By making better use of its GSM 2G resources, China Mobile can deploy a 4G network in a much shorter time because it takes only one hour to update a 2G station, Chang said.

"The world's 4G network development is gaining momentum. There is a clear trend in that all telecom equipment vendors are actively joining China's 4G development," said Huang Meng, a telecom analyst at research firm Analysys International.

The increasing 4G activity is largely driven by positive signals released by Chinese government and telecom operators recently, analysts said.

Miao Wei, minister for industry and information technology, revealed the Chinese government would soon grant 4G licenses to telecom carriers. The government will issue 4G licenses over the coming year.

The ministry officially defined the TD-LTE spectrum - 2,500-2,690 MHz - in China in October, paving the way for future TD-LTE network commercial use.

Xi Guohua, chairman of China Mobile, said in June that China Mobile plans to have a total of more than 200,000 TD-LTE base stations through new builds and upgrades by 2013.