China Mobile, China Unicom Begin Network Interconnection
November 19, 2001 (BEIJING) -- China's wireless telecom carriers have made a
connection to combine their networks, which will help create a fair and competitive
marketplace and benefit telecom customers.
China Mobile, the country's dominant mobile operator, has signed an agreement with its
rival China Unicom for network interconnection and charge sharing. China Mobile
controls about three-quarters of the domestic market.
The agreement signals a major breakthrough for China's telecom sector, as network
interconnection is the basis for a fair, open and competitive environment, said Wen Ku,
a senior official with the Telecommunications Administration Bureau of the Ministry of
Information Industry (MII).
The deal is especially important to China Unicom, which will soon launch the country's
first code division multiple access (CDMA) network in 300 cities.
Network interconnection between the two carriers will ensure Unicom's CDMA users,
estimated at 15 million in the first year, can make phone calls to China Mobile's nearly
100 million users.
China is now the biggest market for the global system for mobile communications
(GSM) cellular system, with 131 million users as of the end of September.
The number of new customers in China is growing at a rate of 5 million per month.
CDMA implementation will further fuel the market expansion. The CDMA network will
begin at the end of the year or early next year, according to Yu Xiaomang,
vice-president of China Unicom.
The CDMA network, which has a higher voice quality, will help China Unicom obtain a
slice of China Mobile's market share.
China Mobile has surpassed Vodafone of Britain, which had been the world's biggest
mobile carrier.
Although only one in 10 Chinese people use mobile phones, China has become a
promising market for worldwide operators and equipment vendors.
China Unicom registered rapid development in its GSM business. The construction of
its CDMA network was finished last month, and the first phase network will cover 300
cities and support 15 million users. The total bids, worth RMB12.1 billion (US$1.46
billion), became a saving grace for many international equipment companies, which were
suffering in the economic downturn outside China.
(Xinhua News Agency)
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