China Unicom Chairman:Telecom Indus Revamp to Come Soon
HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing said Friday he expects details of China's restructuring of its telecommunications sector to be disclosed soon.
" We haven't received the official document regarding the arrangement of the telecommunications restructuring...I think we won't have to wait too long and we are closer and closer" to the announcement date, he said.
Chang said the company is preparing for the restructuring but declined to give a timetable or further details.
In recent weeks, media reports and market analysts have speculated that the government may unveil details about the industry revamp as early as May 17, which is World Telecommunications Day.
Media reports have said a restructuring might involve the merger of China Unicom and fixed-line operator China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Chang also said the company has restored more than 70% of its base stations that were damaged in Monday's earthquake in China's Sichuan province. He said the company doesn't expect a major impact on the company's results.
Chang said the company has more than 3,000 base stations in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, which were the worst-hit areas from Monday's earthquake. Only about 50% its base stations in the three provinces were operating following the earthquake on Monday.
"I am confident that we can restore basic telecommunication services in the worst-hit areas by this weekend," said Chang.
Chang also said China Unicom isn't interested in buying assets overseas and plans to focus on the China market.
Last week, China Mobile Communications Corp., the parent of China Unicom's biggest rival, China Mobile Ltd., said it is interested in the African mobile market as part of its overseas expansion plan.
-By Lorraine Luk, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; lorraine.luk@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 16th May 2008
