(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| China Telecom to Undergo Restructuring
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February 9, 1999 (BEIJING) -- China's major telecommunications company,
China Telecom, is about to undergo substantial reforms, according to
a recent report from Shanghai Securities News.
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The plan to restructure the gigantic company into four independent sectors
-- conventional telephone, mobile communications, satellite data transmission
and paging -- is about to get the go-ahead from policy makers.
The cable network, telecommunications network and computer network are
expected to be integrated sooner or later as the telecommunications
sector opens up.
If this happens, analysts said, it will mean that China has entered the
digital world.
Telecommunications is the fastest growing sector worldwide, and China's
telecommunications industry grew 36.1 percent in 1998.
However, the long-time monopoly has resulted in inefficiency and high
costs in the sector, which has proven to be unfavorable to its long-term
development.
In Beijing alone, telephone installation fees once hit a record high
of RMB7,000 to RMB8,000 (US$843 to US$964), and the average per-minute
cost of a long distance international call was about RMB29, six times
the cost in the United States.
(Xinhua News Agency)
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