China Telecom doubles spending on 3G ads
China Telecom Corp almost doubled its advertising spending in the first four months of the year in an attempt to attract the mainland's notoriously fickle mobile-phone subscribers to its 3G service.
Media monitoring firm Nielsen said China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom had spent 2.628 billion yuan (HK$2.98 billion) on television and print advertising during the period, a 14.5 per cent year-on-year increase.
China Telecom, the first to provide a 3G service nationwide, had almost doubled its marketing budget from 481 million yuan to 957 million yuan to promote the new eSurfing mobile brand.
China Mobile boosted its marketing spending only 1.6 per cent to 1.35 billion yuan but has enjoyed a 'first mover' advantage in the 3G market, having launched its services in 10 selected cities last year.
Unicom cut its marketing budget in the four-month period by 34 per cent to 316 million yuan from 479 million yuan, but the spending is expected to shoot up when it starts full promotion of its 3G brand, WO, which began commercial trials in 55 cities in the middle of last month.
A survey by CTR showed that only 22 per cent of almost 2,000 mobile-phone users said they were loyal subscribers to a particular operator.
This constant lookout for more choices and better deals has led to fierce marketing. CTR said 34 per cent of respondents from 10 cities admitted dissatisfaction with their operator and were looking for better choices.
China Mobile and China Telecom users seem to be sticking with their existing service providers when switching to 3G. CTR said 64 per cent of China Mobile users would stick with the firm for its 3G service. For China Telecom, the figure was 41 per cent and for Unicom only 22 per cent.
More than 52.9 per cent of survey respondents were impressed with China Telecom's 3G service, compared with 40.4 per cent for China Mobile and 42 per cent for Unicom.
China Mobile shares fell 0.38 per cent to HK$78.35, Unicom rose 2.35 per cent to HK$11.34 and China Telecom fell 0.26 per cent to HK$3.82.
