From ChinaNex -----
chinanex.com
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Unicom declared CDMA cellphone subscribers has reached 7 million this week, and plans to recruit 13 million in 2003. Meantime, Unicom (HK) predicts growth of GSM and CDMA customers will reach 21.5 million in 2003, and CDMA will outgrow GSM. For the year, GSM growth was about 1.7 million new customers a month (1.5 million for November).
While there are signs GSM growth may slow down, but it is still within predicted limits, said the company. Meanwhile, CDMA's ARPU remains higher than that for GSM (133 yuan vs. 70 yuan); however, analysts predict as customers continue to increase, ARPU will likely fall.
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Reports say more than 75 billion short messages were sent in 2002, almost double the projection of 45 billion. Two months after launch, the number of MMS reached 560,000, or about four per GPRS handset that supports the service.
Apparently short messaging service has contributed significantly to the state coffer. In Beijing, for instance, tax from China Mobile and Unicom rose 30% in October and November.
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China Mobile has rolled out a handset subsidy policy to boost sales, following the tactic used by rival Unicom. The policy is designed for high-end customers as they are becoming the target for both camps.
Reports say discounted handsets are sold at one third of regular retail, including Nokia, Motorola and other models. Customers buying these handsets must deposit a certain amount of money which will prorated for calls.
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CDMA2000 1X service began in Guangzhou this week. As a trial, handset, MMS and mobile Internet are free to about 300 customers.
The local Unicom operator said everything is ready for the commercial debut which is slated for early 2003. It is not clear how service will be charged, but a report said Internet access will be billed at .15 yuan (1.8 cents) a minute. CDMA2000 1X offers much faster speed than IS-95A, ideal for bandwidth-dependent services.
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Numbers vary on market share by Chinese handsets, from 20% by the MII to 36% by independent surveys. The difference lies in the way data is collected.
MII uses shipment numbers from 30 largest handset companies, but other surveys use samples for sales numbers, especially in marginal markets where home- made handsets take more than 50% in sales.
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A telecom expert predicts China will launch 3G service in 2003 and Unicom may be the first to receive a license.
Lu Yanjie said only 3G can put all operators on the same playing field as the market lacks strong engine for growth. For Unicom, Lu said it plans to conduct an "internal" test on CDMA2000 in 2003, which requires a license to do so. For TD-SCDMA, Lu guesses the probable candidate is Netcom, since other operators have fixed their eye on rival standards.
[[[ No doubt, Netcom is thrilled at the prospect. And Unicom would like Netcom to take anything but cdma. LOL! ]]] |
