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To: JohnG who wrote (98441)	4/28/2001 9:41:00 AM
From: JohnG	Respond to of 152472

Saturday, April 28, 2001--South China Morning Post Unicom seeks 50m voices HUI YUK-MIN Prev. story \| Next story China United Telecommunications (China Unicom group) plans to expand its code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile network capacity to 50 million subscribers in three years, the 12 bidders for the long-awaited multibillion-dollar project have been told. The new network, likely to be launched early next year, is expected to capture about a quarter of China's mobile users in 2003. It is estimated China's mobile subscribers will reach 200 million by 2003, and 300 million by 2005, according to the mainland's telecom regulators' projection. Total investment in the CDMA network for the next three years is estimated to be about 70 billion yuan (about HK$65.5 billion). China Unicom group has budgeted 20 billion yuan for its first phase CDMA network development, expected to be completed by the end of the year, with a capacity of 13.3 million subscribers. Six successful bidders included South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Canada's Nortel Networks, Sweden's Ericsson, United States' Motorola and Lucent Technologies, and China's Shenzhen Zhogxing Telecom, agencies in Seoul reported. Nortel Networks China senior vice-president David Ho yesterday confirmed that its manufacturing joint venture in China - Guangdong Nortel Telecommunications Equipment - had been notified by China Unicom group that it had been selected as the successful bidder to supply CDMA equipment in the operator's seven key provinces for a total of 2.54 million subscribers. Samsung has won a US$500 million deal to supply network equipment to China's first CDMA mobile network in four cities. Meanwhile, China Unicom group is expected to launch its multibillion-dollar A-share offering in the third quarter of the year to tap domestic funding to support its CDMA network expansion plan. The company is rumoured to have received in-principal approval from mainland regulators. Yang Xianzu, chairman of the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, said the parent company was planning to set up a domestic holding company to inject the 77 per cent interest in the subsidiary and other assets from the parent for an A-share offering. Oriental Daily yesterday reported China Unicom was planning to float about 10 per cent to 20 per cent of its shares in Hong Kong-listed China Unicom for a domestic offering. However, a China Unicom spokesman said the A-share offering plan was yet to receive Chinese authorities' approval. No listing schedule or further details could therefore be determined, he said.