China Netcom

PCCW privatization proceeds

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:32:29 -0500

Richard Li, chairman and part owner of Hong Kong carrier PCCW, and fellow PCCW shareholder China Netcom are looking to acquire the 52 percent or so of PCCW that they do not already own, in an effort to privatize the company. The move has been broadly criticized by observers that say the company should remain public, and investors that say the $2 billion privatization bid is not enough.

PCCW was among the first telcos worldwide to gain major market share as a TV service provider, but the company has otherwise struggled, and a recent attempt to sell a stake in a combined telecom and media spin-off failed.

For more:
- The Wall Street Journal has coverage
- Light Reading reports

China wants carriers to share networks

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:48:36 -0400

The latest move in the restructuring of China's telecom market could prove to be a dramatic one, as the Chinese government issued a circular calling for China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom to open their networks to rival firms and to share network construction costs and responsibilities.

The network sharing policy could help loosen the hold that those top three carriers would otherwise have on China's market. By having the companies share network construction, the government is hoping to avoid redundant network build-outs. When a carrier is planning new infrastructure in a particular market, existing carriers in that market are to advise the new entrant if they have facilities already there that can be shared.

So far, the restructuring of China's telecom sector has witnessed China Telecom acquiring China Unicom's CDMA network, China Mobile merging with telco China Tietong, and China Unicom merging with China Netcom.

For more:
- see this report at China Daily

New Trans-Pacific undersea cable turned on

Doug Mohney — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:09:28 -0400

The first phase of the Trans-Pacific Express (TPE) submarine cable system has been activated. The new 18,000 kilometer (over 11,000 mile) fiber optic undersea cable directly connects Mainland China, the U.S., South Korea and Taiwan.

Currently, the system runs at 5.12 terabits. When phase two is completed, TPE will be a 6 terabit system.

Initial carriers investing in TPE were China NetCom, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Korea Telecom and Verizon Business; AT&T and NTT Communications signed on earlier this year. The addition of NTT also added a cable landing site to Japan, making for a total of six sites - one in Japan, two in mainland China, and one each in Taiwan, South Korea, and the U.S.

For more:
- Review the Verizon Business press release announcing TPE undersea cable turn-up

Verizon activates multi-national TPE services

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:52:50 -0400

Verizon Business announced that it had activated service for multi-national customers aboard the Trans-Pacific Express submarine cable network that links the U.S. with mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan. Access to Japan will come in the next phase of the TPE project. The TPE had previously been activated on a preliminary basis to handle traffic from the Beijing Summer Olympics.

The TPE effort was started by China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Korea Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom. The cable extends more than 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) and has an operating capacity of 3.2 Tbps, which is enough to handle 77.5 million simultaneous phone calls, Verizon said. The telco added that multi-national customers can now access the cable system at wavelengths of up to 10 Gbps.

Shareholders of China Unicom, China Telecom approve deals

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:16:48 -0400

China's industry-wide telecommunications shake-up continued as China Netcom Group's minority shareholders approved their planned merger with China Unicom, as well as the sale of Unicom's CDMA network to China Telecom Group, the parent firm of China Telecom. China Telecom's shareholders in turn separately approved the telco's plan to lease the CDMA network from its parent firm.

The merger of China Unicom and China Netcom likely will be completed Oct. 15. China Telecom also hopes to enter the mobile market next month. China's telecom industry restructuring has been discussed for many months, and initial steps toward these deals were taken last spring with the expectation that the shake-up would accelerate after the Beijing Summer Olympics were completed.

Though the ability of landline telcos China Telecom and China Netcom to compete on the mobile front will be enhanced by these deals, the telcos still have to tussle in the market with China Mobile. As part of the industry restructuring, China Mobile earlier merged with landline telco China Tietong Telecommunications. One of the final steps in the grand plan is for China Satellite Communications to be merged with China Telecom Group.

For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires story at The Wall Street Journal
- read this report at China Knowledge

China Telecom profit, voice revenue down

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:20:46 -0400

China Telecom, the largest telco in China, announced first-half earnings, including an 8 percent slide in profit to $1.85 billion. The profit drop was driven in part by a 2.5 percent decline in landline customers and an 11.8 percent fall in voice revenue. these results come just a few days after China Netcom, the second-largest landline network operator in China, reported first-half financial metrics that included a 5.7 percent decline in its fixed-line customer base from the first six months of 2007.

Netcom's profit was down 5.2 percent, though average revenue from broadband users was 1.6 percent higher, and that's where noth China Netcom and China Telecom hope to gain ground in the near future. Much of the Netcom's and Telecom's landline customer loss was to mobile operators. But now, China Netcom is in the process of merging with mobile giant China Unicom, and China Telecom soon will acquire one of China Unicom's mobile networks, both moves part of the previously announced industry-wide restructuring in China.

Some initial moves in that restructuring program have been announced over the last few months, but now that the Beijing Olympics are over, you can bet the program will pick up steam.

For more:
-read this Associated Press story on Telecom at The International Herald Tribune
- see this coverage pf Netcom's numbers at The Wall Street Journal

Related articles:
China has started to move ahead with its telecom industry shake-up. China report
China Telecom posted big broadband growth last month. China Telecom report

China Telecom's impressive broadband growth

Jim O'Neill — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:06:17 -0400

China Telecom added more than 4 million broadband users in the first half of the year, averaging nearly 710,000 new users every month, popping the big telecom firm over 40 million DSL subscribers, nearly 16 percent of the world’s 238 million total DSL subscribers, says the Broadband Forum. Add to that the 23.4 million DSL customers China Netcom claims and the duo accounts for nearly 25 percent of the world’s DSL subscribers.

According to first quarter Broadband Forum numbers, DSL accounts for 65 percent of all high-speed fixed line connections.

For more:
See the Light Reading story

Related articles:
Report: Broadband subs to hit 171 millionin Asia by end of year. Asia broadband growth report
Russian telcos look to grow in Asian markets. Russian telco report
U.S. carriers eye China, India. U.S. carrier report

The latest from China: Unicom, Telecom buys proceed

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:27:38 -0400

The restructuring of China's telecom industry, after many months of speculation, is suddenly proceeding with full force. Mobile giant China Unicom announced it is acquiring wireline player China Netcom for more than $56 billion, a different approach than some had assumed would be a deal in which Netcom would buy one of Unicom's wireless networks. Meanwhile, wireline telco China Telecom confirmed it is buying two CDMA network units from China United Telecommunications and subsidiary China Unicom for a total of more than $15.8 billion. It was once thought the national-scale industry restructuring, intended to precede the introduction of 3G in China, would not happen until after the Beijing Summer Olympics. But, at this rate, with deals getting done last week and this week, much of the paperwork could be filled out and filed before any Fuwa take the field.

For more:
- see this Associated Press story in the New York Times

Related articles:
China set for telecom restructuring China telecom report
China started the industry restructuring program last week. China report

China moves ahead with telecom industry shake up

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:34:05 -0400

The government-led consolidation of China's telecom industry, a precursor to the licensing and implementation of 3G across the country, has been talked about for several months, but many observers did not expect further official details on the plan until after the Beijing Olympics this summer. That changed over the weekend, when the Chinese government outlined the process that will take China's telecom industry from six players--each currently offering primarily wireline or primarily wireless--down to four giant, converged wireline/wireless carriers.

According to the strategy, fixed-line telco China Telecom's parent firm will acquire one of two wireless networks owned by China Unicom's parent company, as well as satellite carrier China Satellite Communications. Landline telco China Netcom's parent firm will get China Unicom's other wireless network. The consolidation already began with the announcement of China Mobile's planned acquisition of landline telco China Tietong.

Well, that is not much more detail than already had been clear about this plan, but in any case, it appears to be moving ahead. China Mobile, which has dominated the country's wireless industry has the most to lose from the industry-level integration.

For more:
- check out this coverage at The Wall Street Journal

Related articles:
- China's telecom industry shake-up was a hot topic last month. China report
- News of China's telecom restructuring seemed imminent back in February. China telecom report