China telecoms operators see plenty to gain in sharing infrastructure

China's three main telecommunications service providers have started talks on setting up a joint venture to allow for infrastructure-sharing, which could lower the cost of developing mobile networks across the country.

The proposed venture would be responsible for the operation and maintenance of as many as 465 existing telecommunications towers across the mainland, according to data from the three firms and estimates by Barclays Research.

China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom plan to lease the towers, mobile base stations and transmission assets from the venture instead of constructing these facilities on their own.

This arrangement could be worth 50 billion yuan (HK$63 billion) in annual savings for the operators, according to market estimates.

The combined number of 2G, 3G and 4G mobile base stations installed on those towers and on top of various buildings across the country was about 2.5 million, according to available data from the three operators.

In separate filings with the Hong Kong stock exchange, China Mobile and China Telecom said all three mainland mobile network operators were in discussions about the formation of the joint-venture "tower facilities company" and that no agreement has been reached.