TMCnet News
China Telecom Ahead in Building 3G NetworkBEIJING, Aug 14, 2009 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- High-quality network will help mobile carriers snatch more market share. So, China's top three carriers all speed up their 3G-network construction in 2009. China Telecom Corporation Ltd. (NYSE: CHA and SEHK: 0728) currently keeps ahead of archrivals China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (NYSE: CHU, SEHK: 0762, and SHSE: 600050), and China Mobile Ltd. (SEHK: 0941 and NYSE: CHL) in terms of network deployment. Lately, China Unicom announced that it would kick off 3G pre-commercial trials in 168 more cities. On August 13, China Telecom disclosed that its first-phase cell tower construction had been completed ahead of schedule. Its network covers 342 prefecture-level cities, 2,055 counties and county-level cities, and more than 6,000 villages and towns. A day earlier, China Mobile revealed that it had completed the deployment of 47,000 TD-SCDMA cell towers in 38 cities of Mainland China. Its 3G-network coverage is equivalent to that of its 2G network, which has been built up in ten years. By the end of 2009, the company will set up 85,000 cell towers in 238 cities. Analysts point out that the top three mobile carriers are racing against time. The earlier they complete their network construction, the more preemptive they will become in luring 3G users. Actually, all of the three companies are fast in their network deployment. China Unicom's speed is one month ahead of schedule and China Telecom's network has covered the whole country in advance, exposed a networking equipment supplier. On August 13, Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, raised higher requirements for the three carriers, asking each of them to attract 80 million 3G users in two and a half to three years. By June 2009, China Mobile has had less than 1 million TD-SCDMA users; and China Telecom's CDMA EVDO mobile phone sales have reached 131,000 and market share higher than 50%. China Unicom sold less than 50,000 3G-cell phones in the second quarter, when China's gross sales only hit 242,000. Most users are looking on because existing 3G terminals and applications are not able to cater to their special needs. The bad user experience caused by incomplete network coverage in the early stage curbed the growth of 3G users, believed Wang Liusheng, analyst of Analysys International. Although China Mobile lags behind in network deployment in a short term, it will catch up with abundant inputs, and China Unicom will welcome a boom on the strength of mature WCDMA industrial chain and rich product line. (USD 1 = CNY 6.84) Source: www.cnstock.com (August 14, 2009) |