Expansion plans in China’s vast telecommunications market are expected to be untouched by the corruption scandal involving the head of the country’s largest fixed-line network operator.
Analysts said the government’s investigation into Chang Xiaobing, the chairman and chief executive of China Telecom, would have no impact on the 4G mobile network development initiatives of the company and those at rival China Unicom.
The probe is being conducted by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which is the Communist Party’s anti-graft body, and was over Chang’s activities at Unicom, where he served as its top executive since November 2004, according to sources.
“The investigation will not have much impact on the business of either China Telecom or China Unicom,” Gartner analyst Sandy Shen said on Monday.
“Chang has only been at China Telecom for about four months, which is too short a time to have an impact on the company’s strategic direction,” Shen said. “At Unicom, we don’t see any back-pedalling on its new 4G roll-out plans.”
Chang took over as head of China Telecom in August, after resigning as the top executive at Unicom, in a reshuffling of leaders at the mainland’s three major state-backed telecommunications network operators.
A spokeswoman for China Telecom said it was “business as usual” at the operator.