China Unicom becomes official Olympics telecom

China Unicom, the country’s second largest mobile carrier by subscriber count, has become the official telecommunications service provider for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Under the deal inked Tuesday night in Beijing, China Unicom will explore cutting-edge technologies to offer all telecom services for the event, and enjoy a wide range of benefits that come with the Olympic brand, Beijing 2022 organizers said in a statement.

Wang Xiaochu, chairman of China Unicom, said the company will unveil new mobile phone numbers that start with the sequence “166” — very lucky numbers in the country — as part of its Olympics sponsorship.