The world’s largest phone operator, China Mobile, has launched a pilot mobile TV service in Hong Kong.

The tablet and smartphone service runs on Android but the free and paid channels are available on iOS via a plug-in receiver. It is also be compatible with portable media players running China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting software.

The service should increase demand for data – which the company says already shot up by 61 per cent in the first nine months of 2012  –  and establish the company as a content provider.

“Hong Kong is a very special environment, so a lot of new services can be tested here,” Sean Lee, CEO of China Mobile in Hong Kong, said at a press conference. “We believe mobile and multimedia platforms are converging.” The company also trialled 4G in Hong Kong before the roll-out across China.

Worlds fastest LTE

According to the China Daily website, China Mobile has also launched the fastest TD-LTE in the world by deploying it along the Jiaxing section of the high-speed train line from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The company says it is capable of delivering 15Mbps of data at speeds of 300 kilometres per hour. It will launch in Hong Kong on 18 December before further expansion.

China Mobile, which is state-owned, is the largest mobile network in the world by user numbers, counting 703m subscribers at the end of October, including 79.3m 3G users.

The company has remained at the top of the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands rankings compiled by WPP and Millward Brown, despite competition from other telcos and a trend towards Chinese brands becoming more outward looking.