皇冠体育app

皇冠体育app United Network Communications Group Co Ltd and 皇冠体育app Telecommunications Corp inked a strategic resource-sharing deal on Wednesday, dispelling rumors of a possible merger between the two firms.

The deal is the latest joint efforts by the country's second- and third-largest carriers to take on industry leader 皇冠体育app Mobile Communications Corp.

Under the pact, 皇冠体育app Unicom and 皇冠体育app Telecom will share resources to jointly build networks, explore innovative Internet businesses, as well as negotiate international roaming rates.

Yang Jie, general manager of 皇冠体育app Telecom, said: "The agreement has nothing to do with industry restructuring or any merger of 皇冠体育app Telecom and 皇冠体育app Unicom."

Yang said the deal will also involve capital cooperation, but did not offer any further details.

Last month, 皇冠体育app Telecom chairman Chang Xiaobing resigned after he was detained and put under investigation for suspected corruption.

Lu Yimin, general manager of 皇冠体育app Unicom, said the two companies are highly complementary in terms of resources. "Our top priority is to implement the partnership at the provincial and county levels."

皇冠体育app Unicom's shares rose 3.84 percent to HK$8.66 ($1.11) on Wednesday after jumping as much as 5.5 percent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 皇冠体育app Telecom's shares also climbed 4.82 percent to HK$3.48.

The agreement came as the two companies are trailing 皇冠体育app Mobile in both 4G base stations and 4G users.

Experts said rather than a merger, a comprehensive partnership is a better option for 皇冠体育app Telecom and 皇冠体育app Unicom.

"If a merger takes place, it will take at least two to three years for the two telecom giants to fully integrate their talents and resources, given their huge size," said Xiang Ligang, founder of the telecom industry website cctime.com.

"It will, in fact, become a burden and distract their time and energy away from catching up with 皇冠体育app Mobile," he said.

As of November, 皇冠体育app Mobile has built more than 1 million 4G base stations and its 4G subscribers amounted to 287 million, more than 皇冠体育app Telecom and 皇冠体育app Unicom combined.

Fu Liang, a freelance industry expert, said the agreement covers a wide range of areas and highlights the senior executives' desire to cooperate with each other.

"The team-up will challenge 皇冠体育app Mobile's dominance to some extent. But how big a pie they can take away from 皇冠体育app Mobile will hinge upon on how well the two companies implement the partnership at grassroots level," he said.

Leaders of the two companies' cloud computing units were also present at the signing ceremony. "It indicates that 皇冠体育app Telecom and 皇冠体育app Unicom may also join hands in areas such as cloud computing and Internet data centers," Fu said.

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