<<<Unicom (HK) has announced its CDMA subscribers grew to
1.26 million by the end of July, up 34.4% from June (936,000). For
the entire Unicom based in Beijing, the number of CDMA users has
surpassed 2 million by August 15.
The company says it took two months for CDMA users to grow
from 1 million to 2 million, suggesting the market has passed a
critical threshold. The company hopes growth will remain strong for
the rest of year by emphasizing CDMA's advantages in voice
quality, security and low radiation. There are signs that handset
sales are picking up in some places as Unicom is taking measures
to push supply.>>>
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<<<Unicom Guangdong branch says construction of CDMA2000
1X is going well and will begin service on schedule. Guangdong is
Unicom's largest market for CDMA service, with about 300,000
customers."
"Local operator says future service will charge 200 yuan ($24) a
month for unlimited access to the Internet. Previously there were
suggestions mobile data service should charge based on actual
data volume instead of time online, but Unicom is afraid most
customers may reject the idea.>>>
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>>>A senior Unicom official said despite the fact the company has
missed precious growth opportunity, it remains bullish on the future
of CDMA market in China, especially when handset supply is
resolved.
Yu Xiaomang, vice president of Unicom, told audience at an
international forum in Shanghai that compared to GSM, CDMA has
much broader spectrum which can serve up to 100 million
customers, and the system can migrate to 3G easily. He said if
more licenses are issued to China Telecom and Netcom, at least
one of them will favor CDMA>>>
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>>>Reports say Unicom (HK) plans to pour in 2 billion yuan ($240
million) this year aimed at pushing CDMA service as time has
passed half-year mark. The company is also thinking to launch
prepaid service targeting low-end customers.
Apparently the decision is driven by the fact that Unicom is lagging
behind China Mobile whose GPRS has passed 1.3 million in two
months after launch. Of 2 billion yuan, half of it has been used by
Unicom to purchase CDMA handset to save retail supply, and the
rest will be used for marketing and new service development such
as prepaid.
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from ChinaNex e-mail service excerpts, Aug 21/22, delayed on website. |
