Nokia Siemens Network on Thursday said that is extending its TD-LTE (time division duplex long term evolution) technology to support the 1.9GHz frequency bands.

The move allows operators to use existing 1.9GHz spectrum allocations to provide TD-LTE services.

While many operators are expected to benefit from the expanded TD-LTE capability, China Mobile, the world’s largest operator, has specific plans to evolve its TD-SCDMA network to dual mode, supporting both TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE services in the 1.9GHz band via a simple software upgrade.

The TD-SCDMA spectrum can then be refarmed to support TD-LTE services, hastening China Mobile’s move to the 4G technology, Nokia Siemens said in a statement.

“The expansion of our TD-LTE portfolio to the 1.9GHz bands marks another step forward in Nokia Siemens Networks’ commitment to driving the TD-LTE ecosystem by supporting China Mobile’s strategy, and at the same time accelerating TD-LTE deployments globally,” said Markus Borchert, president at Nokia Siemens Networks Greater China.

“TD-LTE provides a much faster and highly responsive mobile internet experience, offering speeds of up to 112 megabits per second (Mbps) and enabling HD video and immersive interactive gaming on smartphones, tablets and laptops. All these TD-LTE benefits will now be available in the 1.9GHz bands, extending the reach of TD-LTE.”

As part of Nokia Siemens Networks’ TD-LTE evolution, the company’s industry leading Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station now supports 1.9GHz TD-LTE. Nokia Siemens Networks will be conducting lab trials of its TD-LTE capability in the 1.9GHz band at its Hangzhou open lab in China, and this offering is expected to be commercially available by Q4 2012.

The expanded TD-LTE capability was first introduced at a customer event organized by Nokia Siemens Networks for China Mobile. As part of the event, Nokia Siemens Networks also showcased its TD-LTE data device portfolio including the 4G mobile hotspot router (MHR-lte 7508) announced at the Mobile World Congress 2012, and the indoor wireless router (CPEi-lte 7212), launched by the company during the PT Expo Comm in September 2011. Both these devices support the 1.9GHz TD-LTE spectrum.