China Unicom saves USD295m through network sharing; Telefonica prepares to sell final 1% stake in cellco

摘要

China Unicom, the country's second largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, has saved more than CNY2 billion (USD295 million) in CAPEX this year, as a result of its network sharing agreement with rival operator China Telecom. According to Mobile World Live Asia, which cites data from local news site C114.net, the country's second and third largest wireless players announced a strategic tie-up earlier this year, in a move that was seemingly designed to boost their respective competitive positions against runaway market leader China Mobile. In August the two companies said that they each expected to reduce CAPEX by as much as CNY3 billion this year by jointly building 4G base stations and a fiber-optic network. The report goes on to note that China Unicom has built 700,000 4G base stations since 27 February 2015, upgrading its entire network in 341 cities. The figures were revealed by Ma Hongbing, China Unicorn's deputy general manager for its network construction department.