Telecoms group buys xiaolingtong handsets

China Netcom, the mainland's No2 fixed-line carrier, has bought US$31 million of xiaolingtong handsets as part of efforts to promote its limited mobile-phone services.

Based on an average selling price of US$85, the order translates into about 360,000 handsets, which will be shipped to Liaoning province to meet growing demand for the citywide, wireless phone service there.

China Netcom and rival China Telecom derive more than half of their subscriber growth from xiaolingtong services.

According to UTStarcom, which will provide the phones, the handsets will ship to China Netcom before Christmas and be available for the operator's holiday sales push.

China Netcom's bulk purchase comes several weeks after China Telecom placed a US$80 million order with UTStarcom for 500,000 xiaolingtong handsets and other equipment earmarked for Jiangsu province.

Both China Telecom and China Netcom have been stepping up handset subsidies promotions across the nation in order to boost subscriber growth and snatch cellular business from the country's only two licensed mobile operators: China Mobile and China United.