China Mobile, China’s largest carrier, said it would plow 58.8 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) to build out its 3G network, reports AFP. The operator, which last week was awarded a 3G license based on the country’s homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G standard, said the money would be used to build some 60,000 base stations covering 238 cities. China Mobile currently has over 20,000 base stations for mobile phone calls. The Chinese government views the investment into the 3G roll out as part of an important effort to stimulate the economy. In December, it said the country’s operators—which also include China Unicom and China Telecom—would spend some 41 billion dollars in building out high speed networks over the next two years.

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