Mobile telecoms fans who have been waiting for years for China to issue 4G mobile licenses may finally have reason to celebrate, amid the latest media reports that say licenses will finally be awarded around the upcoming Oct 1 National Day holiday. But the awards will be somewhat bittersweet for true mobile fans, since only users of a homegrown technology called TD-LTE will be able to sample the super-high speeds offered by 4G for at least the next few months. People waiting for service based on more mature western-developed technology called FDD-LTE will probably have to wait at least another half year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the wait is even closer to a year or more. Read Full Post…
Tag Archives: China Telecom
News Digest: August 20, 2013
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
- China Telecom, NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) In JV For Instant Messaging App “YiChat” (PRNewswire)
- LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB) Reports Q2 Financial Results (Businesswire)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Mobile Ad Provider UUCUN – Source (English article)
- China Bans More New Zealand Dairy Products On New Contamination Scare (English article)
- MIIT To Issue 4G Licenses For TD-LTE Around Oct 1 Holiday – Source (Chinese article)
- Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
China Mobile Nears iPhone Deal, Xiaomi Flies On Hongmi
Telecoms stalwart China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and up-and-comer Xiaomi are creating new buzz in the sector these last few days, as speculation builds that the former may be near a long-awaited deal with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to finally offer the iPhone on its network. Meantime, Xiaomi is making headlines with word that it expects its revenue to double this year, following a strong reception for Hongmi, its latest smartphone that retails for just 799 yuan or about $130. Read Full Post…
Unicom On Wrong Track With TD 4G Plan
After offering some rare praise last week for China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU) related to a smart new tie-up with Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), I’m sorry to have to return to my older pattern of criticizing this bumbling company, this time for a 4G strategy that looks quite schizophrenic. Somewhat appropriately, Unicom discussed its latest 4G plans on a day when it also bumbled the release of its latest financial results. In that instance, a government organization published Unicom’s interim results before their official release via the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, forcing Unicom to request a temporary halt in its stock’s trading until the official stock exchange release. Read Full Post…
WeChat Ties With Unicom, Splits With Alibaba
I don’t usually have many positive things to say about Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), China’s second largest mobile carrier that has been in a state of management gridlock for most of the last 4 years after its formation through the merger of 2 smaller telcos. But I commended the company earlier this year for its stance on WeChat, the popular mobile messaging service operated by Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), and am praising it once again for its new market-oriented tie-up with WeChat. At the same time, we’re seeing other interesting news on the WeChat front with word that Alibaba has recently stopped offering its e-commerce services over the popular social networking (SNS) platform. Read Full Post…
China Fires Overwhelm Apple’s Cook
The US may be one of the world’s most competitive markets, but tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is quickly discovering that fast-growing China is far more complex for a wide range of reasons that are often more political than economic. CEO Tim Cook was in Beijing this week to address some of those issues, in what looks like a hastily arranged trip to put out a growing number of fires facing his firm in the world’s largest smartphone market. Read Full Post…
China Telecom, NetEase Take Aim At WeChat
I’m pleased to see that after a major socialist-style clash in China’s mobile Internet space earlier this year, all of the relevant parties are turning to the business of more market-oriented competition with the roll-out of new rival products. Internet followers will know I’m talking about the high-profile clash in early 2013 between China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700) involving Tencent’s highly popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service. In the latest wrinkle to the story, media are reporting that online game operator NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is teaming up with China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), the smallest of China’s 3 mobile operators, to roll out their own WeChat rival product. Read Full Post…
Telefonica-Unicom: Divorce Imminent?
An interesting low-key filing by Telefonica (Madrid: TELF) is leading me to wonder if the debt-laden Spanish telco may be preparing to sell its remaining 5 percent stake in its laggard Chinese peer China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU). I said last year that such a sell-down wouldn’t surprise me at all, after Telefonica sold about half of its 10 percent in Unicom last June, bringing its holdings to their current levels. Read Full Post…
China 4G Licenses: TD For All?
China telecoms watchers are scratching their heads in complete puzzlement today, following the latest media reports that Beijing may require the nation’s 3 big telcos to all build 4G networks based on a homegrown Chinese technology called TD-LTE. This latest signal coming from unnamed sources at China’s telecoms regulator surprised even me, as there was no indication before that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) might make this requirement. But then again, the MIIT has become famous for its mixed signals over the years, in what I suspect are deliberate leaks by the agency designed to get more public feedback on internal policy debates. Read Full Post…
Big Corporates Eye WeChat, Spurn SMS
I’ll openly admit that I’ve generally sided with Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) in its ongoing dispute with China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) over Tencent’s popular WeChat mobile messaging service; but a new report today on the debate is also making me realize that China Mobile’s point has some validity, even if I disagree with its tactics to address the issue. The report I’m talking about cites an executive at Shanghai-based China Merchants Bank (HKEx: 3968; Shanghai: 600036), a leading regional lender, saying his bank is piloting a service on WeChat as it looks to migrate some of its mobile-based services to the platform. (English article) Read Full Post…
China Mobile Gets 4G Edge, iPhone Coming?
The latest reports on Beijing’s plans to issue 4G mobile licenses look like good news for China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), which could lay the groundwork for China’s largest telco to reach a highly anticipated deal to finally offer an Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone for its network. But the news isn’t completely positive for China Mobile, as the latest reports also strongly imply that the nation’s other 2 carriers will both be allowed to develop 4G networks using mature, globally developed technologies. By comparison, China Mobile has been forced to build its 4G network using a problem-plagued homegrown Chinese technology called TD-LTE, and had been lobbying hard for the regulator to require one of its rivals to use that standard also. Read Full Post…
