3 full-service firms slated
Beijing unveiled its third telecommunications industry restructuring since 1999 yesterday, creating three full-service operators that will boost competition and reduce the dominance of China Mobile.
The restructuring also paves the way for the long-awaited issuing of 3G mobile-telephone licences, considered a showcase for the nation's home-grown technology.
Most telecommunications shares surged yesterday before being suspended for the announcement. China Mobile, whose shares were not suspended, slipped as investors fretted the changes will cut the profitability of the nation's biggest cellular operator.
Under the plan, China Mobile Communications Corp, the parent of Hong Kong-listed China Mobile, will acquire China Tietong, which owns a fixed-line network. The purchase will give China Mobile a nationwide fixed-line network.
China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou remains at his post while Zhang Chunjiang, the chairman of China Netcom Group Corp, becomes the company's party secretary. Party secretaries are influential in state-owned enterprises as they represent the Communist Party.