China Unicom to invest in Tibet’s telecom sector

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The third-largest Chinese wireless carrier, China Unicom, signed five-year pact with the government of Tibet to build telecommunication infrastructure in Tibet. The company will spend about RMB1.8 billion (US$264 million) to develop telecom infrastructure, E-government business, information infrastructure of small businesses and rural areas.

Besides, China Unicom’s peers China Mobile and China Telecom have already launched their respective 3G network in the Tibet Autonomous Region in May 2009. Both the companies earlier announced to allocate US$740 million and US$366 million, respectively, to support Tibet’s economic and communication infrastructure development.

Tibet is undergoing a rapid growth in its telecommunication sector. The sector recorded an 18 percent growth in the first nine months of year 2009. The broadband penetration in Tibet of all administrative villages is 40% and efforts are underway to cover 60% of the total villages in the region by 2011. However, the telecom infrastructure and coverage is still said to be below average in Tibet.