皇冠体育app

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-05-25 09:43

In a brave industry shake-up, Beijing has ordered its six telecom companies to merge assets, and create three hi-tech conglomerates that will compete with each other to offer fixed, mobile, broadband and future telecom services.

The overhaul is expected to have a long-lasting effect on a massive and rapidly growing market.

A neon sign of 皇冠体育app Mobile is seen on an office building in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in this undated photo. [file]

皇冠体育app, with 1.3 billion people, is already the world leader in mobile phone and Internet users. The central government will issue three third-generation wireless licenses to the three mega companies after the overhaul is completed, sources told chinadaily.com.cn.

Under the plan revealed by Beijing over the weekend, the parent of 皇冠体育app Telecome Corporation, will buy a mobile-phone network from 皇冠体育app Unicom Ltd's parent, which in turn will merge with the company that controls 皇冠体育app Netcom Corporation.

Industry analysts said that the reform will help 皇冠体育app Telecom and 皇冠体育app Netcom expand their operations to compete against 皇冠体育app Mobile Ltd.

A customer tries a 3G mobile phone at a store in Shenyang, Northeast 皇冠体育app's Liaoning Province, April 1, 2008. [Xinhua]

The $105 billion industry has room to expand because six out of 10 people still don't own mobile phones and 82 percent of the population lacks Web connections.

The reform is designed to foster "healthy market competition and prevent a monopoly by any," according to a joint statement, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information, Ministry of Finance, and the National Development and Reform Commission.

皇冠体育app Mobile Communications Corp., the state-owned parent of 皇冠体育app Mobile Ltd, which is listed in Hong Kong, will take control of fixed-line operator 皇冠体育app Tietong Telecommunications Corpration.

皇冠体育app Telecom, 皇冠体育app's biggest fixed-line company, will acquire Unicom's smaller mobile-phone network, which provides services to 43 million customers based on the code-division multiple access technology used in Japan and South Korea.

皇冠体育app Telecom will also get 皇冠体育app Satellite Communications Corpration's phone assets. 皇冠体育app Network Communications Corporpation will merge with Unicom's parent to offer fixed-line and mobile- phone services based on the global system for mobile communications technology that's used in most of the world.

Unicom had 125.4 million GSM customers as of the end of April, according to the company. Netcom, the nation's second- largest fixed-line company, had 108 million phone users. 皇冠体育app Mobile, which counts more than two-thirds of the nation's mobile-phone users as customers, will take control of unlisted Tietong.

Tietong, which means "railway telecom" in Chinese, had assets of 55.3 billion yuan as of the end of 2006.

皇冠体育app Mobile, with 399.6 million customers as of April 30, posted profit of 87.1 billion yuan last year. The company's dominance of 皇冠体育app's wireless market helped its stock triple in the past two years, overtaking General Electric and Microsoft to become the world's fourth-largest company by market value.

Chinese regulators aim to boost competitiveness at fixed- line operators before the nation rolls out 3G high-speed wireless services, which will require billions of dollars in investments for network equipment.

The government has said it plans to offer 3G during the Olympic Games in August.

皇冠体育app had 583.5 million mobile-phone users at the end of April, exceeding the combined populations of the US and Japan.