Perhaps some of the biggest questions raised by the merging of the mainland ministries responsible for telecommunications concern the fate of the country's second operator, China Unicom.
A first casualty of the new regime has been Unicom president Li Huifen. It emerged last week she was to be replaced, a move not unexpected among observers.
One rumour circulating in Beijing was that a team of senior China Telecom officials would be moved into Unicom to beef up its management structure.
In terms of the most senior post, this appears not to have happened. Ms Li's replacement - though not officially confirmed - is Cao Guixing, formerly vice-president and vice-general manager of Unicom.
On the face of it, Mr Cao is treading a rough road.
Put simply, Unicom is now under the control of an opponent which for the past four years has gone out of its way to stifle the company's progress.