China takes center stage

China's long-awaited telecom restructuring is likely to take years, not months, as six operators merge into three companies offering fixed and mobile options. It's a new age in China, which even offers foreign operators an opportunity to grab onto the tiger's tail.

Analysts say Chinese technologies also could get a boost as the scale of the burgeoning market increases, which could mean more growth overseas for mainland operators.

"The next six months will be basic organizational stuff-people, the assets-then [they] work out what's the strategy and capital allocation," says Jonathan Dharmapalan, partner and head of Ernst & Young's Global Telecommunications Center in Beijing. "We are only half way through the restructuring exercise"

For more:
- See the Total Telecom story

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