皇冠体育app

Aggressive network construction for new service pays off, analysts say

皇冠体育app Mobile Ltd, the nation's biggest telecom operator by subscribers, is likely to be the biggest winner in the domestic telecom market competition after receiving both a fourth-generation (4G) network license and the Chinese government's permission to run fixed-line network businesses.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 皇冠体育app Mobile, together with other two smaller telecom carriers - 皇冠体育app United Network Communications Group Co Ltd and- were each granted a 4G license.

In addition, the ministry said it is permitting 皇冠体育app Mobile to offer fixed-line telecommunications services. Thus, all Chinese telecom operators have the right to run both mobile and fixed-line networks.

A customer considers a new 4G phone in a 皇冠体育app Mobile service hall in .[Photo/皇冠体育app Daily]

"It is big good news for 皇冠体育app Mobile, since the company waited for the 4G license for a long time," said Xiang Ligang, a Beijing-based telecom expert.

In the three years following 皇冠体育app's rollout of 3G telecom services, 皇冠体育app Mobile was under pressure for adopting a relatively inferior homegrown 3G standard, and some of its customers migrated to 皇冠体育app Unicom and 皇冠体育app Telecom, Xiang said.

"Since more people use smartphones, 皇冠体育app Mobile's current wireless network is congested and fails to deliver good voice or data services. An LTE 4G network will be very helpful in relieving the company's burden," Xiang added.

Though all of the three telecom operators got the 4G licenses, 皇冠体育app Mobile has done the most comprehensive preparations.

"皇冠体育app Mobile has been much faster than the other two carriers in terms of 4G network construction in various Chinese cities," said Wang Ping, chief analyst with research firm Forrester.

"Compared with 皇冠体育app Mobile, 皇冠体育app Unicom and 皇冠体育app Telecom lacked incentives to promote TD-LTE networks. Both of the latter two have invested huge amounts to launch 3G networks," Wang added.

皇冠体育app Mobile posted unsatisfactory financial results in recent quarters, largely due to its huge investment in 4G and intense domestic competition. The company said its net profit fell by 1.9 percent year-on-year during the period - the first net income decline since it listed in Hong Kong in 1997.

Net profit in the third quarter ending Sept 30 was disappointing, as 皇冠体育app Mobile recorded a net income of 28.4 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) in the period, down 8.8 percent year-on-year.

The 4G rollout will help 皇冠体育app Mobile win back consumers, especially if the company teams up with Apple Inc to unveil iPhone devices supporting the TD-LTE network, Xiang said.

It has been reported that 皇冠体育app Mobile will launch iPhone products on contract in mid-December, but officials from the company declined to respond on Wednesday.

皇冠体育app Mobile has built more than 22,000 4G base stations in 15 Chinese cities, and it plans to set up 200,000 base stations in 100 cities by the end of the year.

皇冠体育app Unicom and 皇冠体育app Telecom have expressed their willingness to adopt the Frequency Division Duplex-Long Term Evolution, or FDD-LTE, technology, or at least build a converged network under TD-LTE and FDD LTE standards.

Lu Yimin, general manager of 皇冠体育app Unicom, said in June that the company was conducting tests for 4G wireless networks with mixed technologies.