China’s largest fixed-line telephone operator, China Telecom, wants the government to promote competition in the telecommunications sector, state media reported. Wang Xiaochu, chairman and chief executive, said more regulations are needed on resource sharing. More than US$164 billion was spent on the construction of telecom infrastructure between 2002 and 2006, but only a third of telecom cables are used. China Telecom acquired the CDMA business of China Unicom as part of an industry restructuring. Wang said China Telecom hopes to see the sharing of resources, such as networks and transmission towers, to improve efficiency and increase fairness in price competition. Last week, China Telecom reported a 2008 first-half net profit fall of 8.2% year-on-year, to US$1.84 billion, because of a significant decline in its core fixed-line business. Meanwhile, China Mobile, the country’s leading wireless operator, saw a 44.7% rise year-on-year to US$8.02 billion in its first-half net profit as its subscriber base grew rapidly.
Categories