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To: Jon Koplik who wrote (29188)	5/5/1999 2:04:00 AM
From: Ramus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Jon, It looks like JG did the job for me.. Thanks JG!! Sorry, I don't remember anybody saying that to me. Walt

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (29188)	5/5/1999 2:59:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

China Unicom Merges With Guoxin Paging in a Major Boost for the Upstart Telecom (5/4/99) China Unicom has merged with Guoxin Paging Corp., China's largest paging company, according to the May 3 Nanfang Ribao (Nanfang Daily). The merger was one of several moves announced yesterday that indicate that Beijing is finally getting serious about supporting China Unicom, the company originally created to compete with the inefficient state-run monopoly, China Telecom. Since it was created in 1994, China Unicom has had a hard time achieving its raison d'etre due to a chronic lack of funding, limited access to existing telephone networks, and resistance from the Ministry for Information Industry (MII), China's telecommunications regulator and a fierce protector of China Telecom. Now, that resistance appears to be fading. The merger of China Unicom and Guoxin was itself approved by the MII. The ministry also granted China Unicom exclusive rights to establish a nationwide cell phone network that operates on the CDMA standard, the newspaper said. The network will rival China Telecom's GSM cellular network. In addition, the MII authorized China Unicom to provide internet long distance as well as internet access services, the newspaper reported. China Unicom is the country's second largest telephone company, yet with only 5% of the cellular market, and operating only one land line in China (in Tianjin), China Unicom lags far behind the de facto monopoly China Telecom. Won't Abandon GSM It hopes to capture 30% of the cellular market by 2003 by means of a new development plan announced on Sunday, the newspaper said. Guoxin Paging, which plans to seek a domestic listing this year, will provide China Unicom with a much-needed source of capital. Made up of dozens of pager operators throughout China, it has 39.5 million subscribers and 60% of the domestic market. Its revenues for the first quarter of this year were RMB 2.3 billion (US$272.1 million) – three times those of China Unicom for the same period. It has RMB 13 billion (US$1.6 billion) in assets and made a profit of RMB 1.5 billion (US$175.7 million) last year. The MII has also granted China Unicom exclusive rights to operate cell phone networks on the CDMA platform. The telephone operator plans to spend RMB 7 billion (US$84.6 million) this year to add two million lines to its existing network, the newspaper reported. Next year, the company plans to have a capacity of 10 million lines and to operate in 160 cities. By 2003, the company aims to capture 30% of the cellular market, with a capacity of 50 million lines and 35 million subscribers. China Unicom will take over the operations of existing trial CDMA networks in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an that are currently operated by another telecom company, Great Wall. However, China Unicom will not abandon its cell phone networks operating on the GSM platform, the cellular standard in China, the newspaper said. It will invest RMB 23.8 billion this year to expand capacity by 5.7 million lines, bringing its total capacity to over 9 million lines and its total number of subscribers to over 4.5 million. Hitting these numbers means that the operator would account for 10% of GSM network users in China. The operator will offer internet protocol (IP) long distance phone service in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in June. The long distance market until now has been restricted to China Telecom. The company will spend an estimated RMB 3.7 billion (US$447.4 million) on establishing IP service this year, the newspaper said. China Unicom will also establish broadband outlets so that it can provide internet access service. However, since there is little profit to be made as an internet service provider in China, the investment here will be far smaller than for the other projects, the newspaper said. Home \| Economic News \| Industry News \| About ChinaOnline Membership Registration \| Products & Services \| Calendar of Events Contact Us \| Statistics \| Reference Materials © ChinaOnline 1999.