皇冠体育app

Nation's biggest telecom operator is moving boldly to win back customers as it rolls out its high-speed 4G services in 340 cities next year, Shen Jinng reports

皇冠体育app Mobile Communications Corp, the parent company of 皇冠体育app's biggest telecom carrier, 皇冠体育app Mobile Ltd, announced it will offer commercial fourth-generation telecom services in 340 Chinese cities next year.

Special: 皇冠体育app Mobile to debut 4G services

Xi Guohua, chairman of 皇冠体育app Mobile Ltd, said on Wednesday that the company will build 500,000 4G base stations across 皇冠体育app in 2014, constituting the world's largest 4G network. The company currently has about 200,000 4G base stations.

Xi spoke during the 皇冠体育app Mobile Global Partner Conference in Guangzhou.

皇冠体育app Mobile will offer 4G services in 16 cities, including and Shanghai, by the end of the year, Xi said. In Beijing, the company's 4G network already covers the area inside the Third Ring Road.

Customers don't need to change their phone numbers, but just get a new SIM card for their 4G handsets. The new mobile network achieves data download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second, four times faster than 3G networks.

"皇冠体育app Mobile's marketing focus next year will be in terminal sales, since mobile terminals support the development of mobile Internet," Xi pointed out.

He predicted that the total number of TD-LTE mobile phone models will exceed 200 and entry-level 4G smartphones will hit the market in 2014.

皇冠体育app Mobile is targeting sales of 190 million to 220 million mobile terminals running on its wireless networks by 2014, Xi said. Of those, about 100 million handsets should be 4G smartphones, Xi added.

Analysts said 皇冠体育app Mobile's move is decisive and ambitious, and shows a strong desire to win back customers that it lost in the 3G market competition.

Bryan Wang, principal analyst with Forrester Market Advisory (Beijing) Co Ltd, said 皇冠体育app Mobile's target of 100 million 4G smartphone sales next year is "somewhat surprising", since the carrier's total user base was about 760 million as of October.

皇冠体育app United Netcom Ltd and Corp Ltd managed to increase their 3G user base to 100 million each over three years, "but 皇冠体育app Mobile wants to achieve a similar goal in one year", Wang said.

The bold target, in terms of both network deployment and smartphone sales, will inevitably impose a heavy burden on 皇冠体育app Mobile's budget, Wang pointed out.

"皇冠体育app Mobile is very likely to make record high capital expenditures in 2014, even though the company already invested huge sums in 4G projects this year," he added.

The introduction of Apple Inc's iPhone handsets could be even more costly. Since 皇冠体育app Mobile will offer generous incentives for high-end 4G flagship smartphones such as the iPhone 5S, the company may spend tens of billions of yuan in device subsidies next year, Wang said.