China Mobile International Limited, a subsidiary of China Mobile, the world\'s largest mobile telecommunications company in terms of subscribers, and Clearwire CLWR  , a leading provider of wireless broadband services, today announced that the two companies have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) that lays the foundation for international roaming between China and the United States using TD-LTE.

Under the MOU, China Mobile International Limited and Clearwire plan to collaborate on business and technical aspects of their respective operations to define and institute the process necessary to support international roaming and to ensure the operators\' systems and devices are able to support roaming. The companies also expect this agreement to serve as a blueprint for future roaming agreements with other members of the GTI of which China Mobile and Clearwire are founding members.

"We recently demonstrated the roaming capability between Hong Kong FDD LTE and Hang Zhou TD-LTE. With the commercial launches of TD-LTE networks in major markets, these networks shall enable international roaming to create a ubiquitous user experience and a unified market," said Dr. Tiger Lin, Chairman of China Mobile International. "Our goal is to make a converged LTE TDD/FDD market in which our subscribers roam between a TD-LTE network and a LTE FDD network at affordable cost and enjoy the benefit of LTE service globally."

"Today\'s new agreement with China Mobile will add substantial momentum to our own LTE network deployment and to the development of the TD-LTE ecosystem around the world," said Dr. John Saw, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Clearwire. "The global nature of the TD-LTE ecosystem and interoperability will be an important achievement for both companies. We are pleased that our position as a leading 4G operator has allowed us to develop a strong working relationship with a key global counterpart like China Mobile."

China Mobile and Clearwire are developing TD-LTE networks in their respective domestic markets. Through mutual collaboration, the companies will provide their customers with 4G roaming capability and help 4G services to follow the same global pattern towards international accessibility as other wireless technology. The companies expect the spectrum in the 2.3GHz to 2.7GHz range which will be used in their TD-LTE network deployment will make up one of the most widely deployed 4G configurations in the world.

Source:Clearwire Corporation; China Mobile International Limited