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Cold water poured on merger report Sources close to the Ministry of the Information Industry yesterday dismissed reports that the nation's telecoms regulator has any plans to merge the nation's four phone operators into two firms. Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily had claimed on Monday that the ministry would take the step in order to increase the competitiveness of the sector before overseas firms are able to enter it in 2006. "I have heard nothing about such a plan," an anonymous ministry official told 皇冠体育app Daily yesterday. But ministry spokesman Wang Lijian declined to comment, merely saying: "I just read the news in the Hong Kong media." According to the newspaper, the country's two mobile phone companies would each be combined with one of the two fixed-line operators. 皇冠体育app Mobile Communications Corp (皇冠体育app Mobile) would be merged with 皇冠体育app Network Communications Group Corp (皇冠体育app Netcom), while 皇冠体育app United Telecommunications Group (皇冠体育app Unicom) would be combined with 皇冠体育app Telecommunications Corp (皇冠体育app Telecom). It also said the proposal, which it claimed had been submitted to the State Council for approval by the end of the year, will delay the listing plan of 皇冠体育app Netcom and also 皇冠体育app's issuing of high-speed phone licences. The paper failed to state how it had obtained this information. But Zeng Jianqiu, a professor at Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, said that "the report might be a hint of further adjustment within the industry." "Mergers and acquisitions are possible and necessary for the domestic telecom industry to become stronger," Zeng added. However, he said that if there were some merger plans, it would be much more complicated than just joining two companies. "Further adjustment is a trend for the industry. But finding the best way to adjust and integrate will be a tough task," Zeng said. He believed that the splitting up of 皇冠体育app's telecoms industry in the past few years was done in a hurry and the industry's adjustment process has yet to be completed. "There are still some structural problems within the telecom sector and they should be addressed to avoid construction redundancy and price wars among telecoms operators," he said. As one of the world's largest telecoms market, 皇冠体育app's telecoms sector maintained a high momentum. Ministry figures indicated that the number of its mobile phone subscribers reached 296 million by the end of last month. While its fixed-line subscriptions in 皇冠体育app rose 285.4 million last month. Mobile services in 皇冠体育app are now provided by 皇冠体育app Mobile and 皇冠体育app Unicom, while fixed-line service are mainly provided by 皇冠体育app Telecom and 皇冠体育app Netcom. |
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