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China’s stateowned telephone operator, China Telecom, lost a record 1.48
million landline telephone customers last month and posted its first ever
fullyear drop in users, due to the rapidly increasing popularity of mobile
phone services.
The country’s leading wireless carrier, China Mobile, which is also
statecontrolled, separately reported gains of 6.6 million customers in the same
31day period.
December was the fifth month in a row of subscriber losses for China Telecom,
bringing its total customer base to 220.3 million, the Beijingbased company
said in an online statement. Shares in China Telecom have surged 41% in the past
six months, however, on speculation that it may gain a wireless license of its
own as part of an anticipated reorganization of phone companies in China,
designed to spur competition.
“The loss of subscribers will lead to shrinking revenue for the fixedline
operators and may lead to them lobbying the government to restructure the
industry sooner,” predicted Francis Cheung, an analyst with CLSA Ltd. “The
urgency of this scenario may give the government an added push to do so.”
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Source: http://www.teleclick.ca/2008/01/chinatelecomloses148millioncustomersaschinamobileflourishes/
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