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Telcos to boost spending by 18%

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-17 15:14

China Mobile, which will invest 80 billion yuan to 90 billion yuan in 2007, will continue to upgrade its 2G networks to provide data services and expand its networks in rural areas, where handset penetration rate is less than 10 percent, versus the more than 80 percent in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing, said Chen Haofei, the general secretary of the TD-SCDMA Forum.

"The 2G and 3G networks will co-exist for a long period and it is a wise way for carriers to prepare enough capital for the coming 3G competition," Chen added.

China Telecom will invest more on broadband and data services, according to Analysys.

The telecom carrier's non-voice business accounted for 29 percent of the company's overall sales in 2006, a gain of five percentage points. Internet-related revenue, such as Internet protocol TV and online video services, jumped 32.3 percent to 23.63 billion yuan. Broadband income rose 41.2 percent to 14.13 billion yuan.

"We realize the irreversible trend of the mobile phone business and the increasingly intense competition from the telecom industry," Wang Xiaochu, China Telecom's chairman, said previously.