11:50 AM -- The impact of Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR)'s plan to deploy Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex (LTE TDD) will be particularly felt in China, where China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the U.S. WiMax operator's decision. (See Clearwire Goes It Alone With Faster 4G and Clearwire to Jump to Faster LTE.)

That's because Clearwire will deploy the same version of LTE as China Mobile -- that is, LTE TDD. And China Mobile, as the world's largest operator with more than 600 million subscribers, has been the biggest proponent of LTE TDD -- which it refers to as TD-LTE -- and has been instrumental in raising awareness of and driving support for this flavor of LTE. (See Just What Is LTE TDD Anyway? and Global TDD Initiative Launched at MWC 2011.)

Beyond China, Clearwire's technology shift will also be felt in India, where Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and others are also planning to roll out LTE TDD networks. (See Report: 17 Million LTE Users in India by 2016.)

Clearwire's commitment to the lesser known variant of LTE will help to add volumes to demand for equipment and devices, which in turn will drive down prices. And that will benefit not just Clearwire, but operators around the world that are planning to deploy LTE TDD.

For more on Light Reading's LTE TDD coverage, see our Briefing Center dedicated to this technology, and these stories:

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile