China Unicom Denies Report It Will Lease China Telecom Network
By Peter Harmsen at Bloomberg News
27 May 1999
China Unicom, the mainland's second-largest telecom
company, denied reports that it will lease a mobile phone
network from its main competitor, China Telecom.
The Hong Kong-based Ming Pao newspaper said the move is
aimed at avoiding redundant capital spending.
"It's not necessary for Unicom to lease China Telecom's
network," said Zhang Jiakun, a Unicom spokesman.
He said Unicom previously leased transmission circuits from
China Telecom, the Ministry of Railways and other
departments, but emphasized that this "is not the same as
leasing a whole network."
He said that as Unicom, established in 1994, gradually expands
its own facilities, it will become even less dependent on
equipment leased from other entities.
As China Unicom seeks to expand its market share, it is
engaged in an intense rivalry with China Telecom, which
previously held a monopoly on China's mobile phone market
and acted as the industry regulator.
Recently, China Telecom was reported to have blocked China
Unicom from selling low-priced mobile phone cards in the
central city of Wuhan.
The China Business Times reported today that several local
mobile phone operators have been slashing prices in an effort
to squeeze out China Unicom.
The State Development Planning Commission is attempting to
curb such price wars by applying provisions of the Price Law,
the paper said.
An editorial in the English-language China Daily yesterday
criticized the commission's efforts, calling them "a lesson in
the power of administrative monopoly."
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