China Unicom adds record number of CDMA users/day (450K-465K/monthly)
biz.yahoo.com
Reuters Company News
China Unicom adds over 15,000 CDMA users/day -paper
BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China Unicom Ltd (HKSE:0762.HK - News), the country's number two cellular phone carrier, started adding more than 15,000 customers per day to its CDMA network in July, the China Daily newspaper said on Friday.
The growth came as Unicom focused more on the mass market and less on high-end users, it quoted "insiders" as saying, without giving details. Attractive promotions on handsets had helped, it added.
CDMA, or Code Division Multiple Access, is widely considered a more efficient technology than the rival European-developed standard GSM, or Global System for Mobile communications.
Many company watchers have expected China Unicom, which had priced CDMA as a premium service, to lower tariffs or offer incentives in order to lure more CDMA users.
The company said the number of CDMA subscribers surpassed one million in May and reported that it added 151,000 subscribers in June.
Total CDMA subscribers stood at 936,000 customers at the end of June.
At more than 15,000 per day, it would add more than 450,000-465,000 customers monthly for the rest of the year, which would put it close to its goal of 4.6-4.7 million CDMA users by the end of the year.
The newspaper said adding more CDMA customers could eat into Unicom's GSM subscriber base, which stood at 33.13 million at the end of June. Critics have said it makes little sense for China Unicom to offer service on both standards.
Sluggish takeup of China Unicom's CDMA network, launched in January, has helped to batter the company's shares, which are off about 40 percent since the beginning of the year. They closed at HK$5.30 on Friday
A shortage of CDMA handsets in China has been blamed in part for the network's slow start. |
