China Telecom to sell Apple’s iPhone 4S from March 9 (China)
China Telecom will commence the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S from March 9th onwards. The launch of iPhone 4S by China Telecom was confirmed by Apple in a formal announcement. Apple confirmed the availability of all three sizes of iPhone, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB with China Telecom.
The sale of iPhone 4S will be initiated with online reservations from March 2, informed China Telecom. The launch of iPhone 4S has positioned China Telecom as the second official supplier of iPhone in the country. Earlier, China Telecom’s competitor, China Unicom was the sole supplier of iPhone 4S in China.
China Telecom is banking on the launch of iPhone 4S with 3G net additions to keep pace with its competitors in the telecom market. CDMA technology used by China Telecom’s 3G networks will enable the iPhone to support UMTS/HSDPA and CDMA EVDO, positioning it as the first device to function on these platforms.
The device is launched with three separate monthly fee plans for US$ 45.8722, $ 61.7446, and $ 77.6167. For availing the monthly plans, China Telecom has rolled out two and three year service contracts respectively. Currently, the availability of iPhones is limited to Apple’s online store, resellers and China Unicom in the Chinese telecom market.
By the end of 2011, when China Unicom had 26 million subscribers and China Mobile had 30.5 million subscribers, China Telecom boosted its clientele with 24 million 3G subscribers.
China Telecom and AT&T expand network agreement (China, USA)
China Telecom has reportedly entered into a new agreement with US based operator AT&T through which it will gain access to AT&T’s networks in the US along with other regions. According to reports, the deal will enable both the operators to provide virtual networks to their business customers at competitive costs.
Sources claim that as per the agreement, China Telecom would be able to provide services to corporate customers in the US market by using AT&T’s assets while AT&T would be able to do the same for its business customers in China. Further, reports reveal that the two operators may also extend their agreement to include other services such as video conferencing.
Air China to offer wireless network in flights (China)
Air China, one of the major airlines of the People’s Republic of China, has reportedly announced plans to offer wireless network services on its flights from this month. According to reports, initially the passengers would not be allowed to access the internet, however, they would be able to use their laptops and other devices to play games, watch entertainment programs as well as shop online.
As per sources, Zhou Enyong, Air China spokesperson has said that the network service will first be available in single-aisle planes followed by wider jets, and will gradually be made available on Air China’s major domestic flights. He added that in order to ensure the success of the first commercial flights that have the network, the plane will go through an hour long trial flight this week, without any passengers to test the plane’s network server and other equipment.
According to reports, Air China had discussed plans to work with China Telecom, the largest telecommunications operator in the country, in April, in an attempt to enable passengers to access the Internet as well as use cell phones.
China Telecom may launch wireless services in U.S. next year (China, USA)
China’s largest fixed-line service provider may be planning to start a wireless service for its U.S. consumers by next year in an attempt to target Chinese-Americans, students and tourists travelling between the two countries, as reported by reports.
According to reports, Donald Tan, President, China Telecom (America), has said that the company will offer its users handsets with two lines, one that will work in the U.S., and another in China. He added that the company is already in trials with several possible wholesale partners, and will soon choose one as the service’s network. Further, Mr. Tan also said that if the wireless service grows fast, China Telecom may consider building its own wireless network infrastructure in the U.S., as money is not a problem for the company.
As per sources, the Chinese firm had current assets totalling $ 9.6 billion inclusive of $ 4 billion in cash, in June. However, as per industry sources, China Telecom’s wireless network infrastructure plans in the U.S. may be subject to the terms laid out by the country’s government agencies.
Reports suggest that Mr. Tan has hinted that if success is achieved in their U.S. venture, the company may expand similar services to other markets such as Canada.
China Telecom signs deal with Alcatel Lucent to upgrade 3G network (China, France)
China Telecom has chosen Alcatel-Lucent to expand and upgrade the operator’s 3G network. With this move, China Telecom aims to improve the coverage and speed so as to enhance customer experience as well as ensure a smoother movement to 4G technology. The new network will help China Telecom attract new subscribers and increase its customer base.
According to reports, Wei Leping, Chairman of China Telecom Science & Technology Committee, has said that working with Alcatel-Lucent gives them confidence that they can attract a growing number of subscribers in China, knowing that they can offer all their customers, old and new, the services, speeds and experience they expect, now and in the future.
Rajeev Singh-Molares, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Asia-Pacific Region, has reportedly said that Alcatel-Lucent’s long history of CDMA leadership together with their knowledge of the China market and China Telecom’s network allows them to help them meet rising demands for mobile broadband. Their expertise and understanding will allow China Telecom to maintain quality as their customer base grows, as well as prepare for the faster future of 4G LTE mobile broadband, and for the new applications and demands it brings.
China telecom may launch mobile services in UK
China Telecom Corporation Ltd, the country’s third largest wireless operator, has reportedly been in talks with network operators in UK, in order to lease network capacity for selling mobile services in the country. With this move China Telecom aims to target the tourist population for the London Olympics in 2012, along with the Chinese subscriber base living in UK.
Sources claim that the company has approached Everything Everywhere, a venture between Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA, and the Vodafone Group Plc. Often, mobile operators lease bulk network at wholesale prices, which helps them reduce operating expenses and offer competitive rates to their subscribers.
According to VisitBritain, the UK government’s tourism agency, the fastest increase in tourism to the UK from any country has been from China, with the number of visitors expected to increase by a further 89 percent by 2014. Following success in this venture, China Telecom may also expand to other countries, such as Germany and France.
China Telecom plans to acquire mobile network (China)
China Telecom is planning to buy the mobile network it currently leases from its parent company to save on leasing fees.
Accordig to Chairman Wang Xiaochu, the company is anticipating completing the purchase of the CDMA2000 network by the end of next year. The network is valued at about US$13.72 billion and the purchase will be funded with debt. The price for the acquisition has not yet been decided.
China Telecom’s capacity leasing fees rose by 59% to US$2.02 billion in 2010 as the number of 3G users rose to 12.3 million over the year.
China Telecom Q4 profits increase by 5%
China Telecom Corp Ltd has reported an increase of about 5% in fourth-quarter net profit, helped by growing revenue from mobile and broadband services.
According to reports, China Telecom posted a net profit of US$482.97 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 and reported a net profit of US$2.4 billion for the full year.
China Telecom, a newcomer to China’s mobile market, operates the country’s largest fixed-line network and is aggressively promoting broadband over that channel.
Its shares went up by about 25% in 2010, beating a 5% advance by the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
Asia Pacific Telecom aims for 3 mn users (Taiwan)
Asia Pacific Telecom has announced that it aims to boost its subscriber base to 3 million by the end of April.
The operator hopes to achieve this goal via increasing the number of smartphone users and the launch of its new EVDO network.
Asia Pacific Telecom’s customer base stood at 2.88 million last year.
Plans to increase customer numbers include the launch of its own app store named ‘A+mart’, in a bid to increase the number of smartphone users on its network and value-added data plans.
According to the company, it sold 1.1 million phones last year, with smartphones accounting for 11% of the total number of handsets sold.
According to Asia Pacific Telecom Chief Executive Vincent Chih, the company intends to spend up to $169.9 million on smartphone purchases this year, so smartphones could comprise between 20% – 25% of total handset numbers.
Tablets from manufacturers Samsung and Coolpad are also being planned for retail by the operator.
Asia Pacific Telecom is also aiming to launch its EVDO network in the second half of this year, in cooperation with China Telecom.
China Mobile confirms Apple will develop an LTE based iPhone
China Mobile’s Chairman has confirmed that Apple is looking at developing an LTE based iPhone, which is in itself, not a huge surprise, but that it would work on the Chinese TD-LTE standard, which might be more interesting.
According to Chairman Wang Jianzhou, Jobs has expressed his interest in an LTE iPhone and he is willing to start the development at an early date.
China Mobile is currently deploying a more specialized version of the LTE platform, TD-LTE, so that Apple would have to develop a handset specific to that mobile network – with the expectation that other networks may adopt the technology in the future.
Even if China Mobile remains the sole proponent of TD-LTE, its customer base is larger than many countries, so the investment in developing a Chinese iPhone would still make sense.
China Mobile is expected to launch LTE this year. Already, China Mobile has joined forces with Verizon and Vodafone in a cooperative LTE trial. Rivals, China Telecom and China Unicom are expected to start deploying LTE networks between 2012 and 2013.
