Shares in the four mainland telecoms operators rally as investors bet on imminent issue of permits
China Telecom Corp and China Netcom Group Corp, the country's fixed-line operators, expect to be awarded licences to offer third-generation mobile-telephone services by the first quarter of next year, Netcom chief executive Zuo Xunsang said yesterday.
The comments came after Minister of Information Industry Wang Xudong said on Monday that 3G services, which allow faster downloads of video and other data, should be ready by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He did not give any timetable on when the licences will be issued.
'We are confident that we will have a 3G licence and China Telecom will also have a 3G licence,' Mr Zuo said. 'We anticipate the licences will be coming out late this year or the first quarter of next year.'
Shares in the four Chinese telecommunications operators rose yesterday as investors expect 3G licences will be issued soon. China Telecom, the country's largest fixed-line operator, surged 15.56 per cent to HK$4.01 and Netcom gained 8.46 per cent to HK$16.16.
China Unicom, the country's second-largest mobile operator and the subject of rumours that it will be merged with Netcom, jumped 6.53 per cent to HK$9.14. Larger rival China Mobile edged up 0.71 per cent to HK$63.75.
The award of 3G licences to China Telecom and Netcom will give the companies new growth potential after their fixed-line businesses recorded single-digit revenue growth in the first three quarters. China Mobile grew 20 per cent during the period.