China’s three telecom operators are expected to pour 280 billion yuan ($40.96 billion) into third generation (3G) mobile phone network infrastructure projects in the next two years.

Friday, the country’s top telecom regulator said China’s three telecom operators are expected to pour 280 billion yuan ($40.96 billion) into third generation (3G) mobile phone network infrastructure projects in the next two years.

Li Yizhong, minister of Industry and Information Technology said the country’s telecom business volume and revenue is expected to increase 15 percent and 6 percent respectively next year at a national work conference.At least 200 billion yuan will be spent on 3G-related projects in the next year alone.

China Mobile, China’s biggest mobile phone carrier, will get a license for TD-SCDMA, a 3G system based on homegrown technology.China Unicom, the smaller operator, will operate a WCDMA network, while China Telecom, until now a fixed-line telecoms operator, will get a license for CDMA 2000 technology.