BEIJING—Broadband telecom network provider China Netcom is expected to be awarded a mobile license by the Chinese government soon.
The company will start promotion of its wireless Internet access device called Mobile Office next week. It is China Netcom’s first foray in mobile services and may be followed by the end of next year by mobile voice services, according to Lin Hua, the director of the company’s mobile business, in an interview with China Daily’s Business Weekly. In anticipation, the company has set up a Mobile Unit.
China currently has just two mobile carriers, China Mobile and China Unicom, but the Minister of Information Industry Wu Jichuan has indicated that more mobile licenses will be granted in the future.
China Netcom is expected to merge with subsidiaries of fixed-line operator China Telecom covering the northern provinces of the country.
