BEIJING—Telecommunications analyst Wallace Cheung of DBS Equities Research told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post he expects China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII) to grant two new second-generation (2G) mobile-phone licenses in the second half of next year, when the ministry will also issue third-generation (3G) licenses.
At present, China has two mobile-phone operators, China Mobile and China Unicom. On the one hand, MII wants to increase competition in the sector, but on the other hand, it wants to avoid a potentially crippling price war, which could hamper the operators’ abilities to invest and expand the networks. China is expected to issue 3G licenses for a nominal fee.
China’s dominant fixed-line carrier, China Telecom, is expected to obtain a mobile license next year, but will face an uphill battle to dethrone the two incumbent mobile operators.
China expected to grant two new mobile licenses next year
110
