China Unicom got an unenthusiastic response from the public on Tuesday when it opened up its long-awaited code division multiple access (CDMA) network in what appeared to be a less-than-auspicious beginning for the new communications venture.
China Unicom, which is the mainland's second-largest mobile carrier, actually launched its CDMA network with a lot of fanfare in late December, but decided to limit access to a small group of VIPs and early subscribers for a carefully guarded trial period.
Although it said it would sign up 500,000 users in the three months leading up to April, it has announced plans to make only 100,000 numbers available before the Lunar New Year.
On Tuesday, the company had sold only about half of the numbers it made available in Beijing. In other cities, it got a similar response, according to People's Daily's Wednesday edition.
China Unicom has spent 24 billion yuan on the first phase of building the CDMA mobile communications network. That amount is believed to be its biggest gamble in the prolonged competition with its bigger rival, China Mobile. China Unicom and China Mobile both presently have a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network in China. China Mobile, has signed up about 100 million users, while China Unicom has a subscriber base of above 40 million.
Both China Mobile and China Unicom are likely to experience some slowdown in growth in the coming year, and China Unicom hopes to open a new front in that competitive battle. When the new CDMA network is completed in 2004, it will be the world's largest 2.5-generation mobile phone network, with a 50-million-subscriber capacity. The charges for using the CDMA mobile network will be 50 yuan per month for access and 0.4 yuan per minute of use. That is the same price the company charges for using its GSM network.