China Unicom Has An AT&T Problem

摘要

For iPhone users in the U.S., the gripes of their Chinese counterparts may sound all too familiar. Dropped calls. Spotty coverage. Lousy customer service. In the U.S., the telecom network that Apple fans love to hate is AT&T. In the People's Republic, it's China Unicom. The state-owned company is the only Chinese mobile carrier with the type of 3G network that works with the iPhone. Problem is, Unicom is a longtime also-ran, far behind market leader China Mobile and notorious for running a network that drives customers up a wall. "Everyone hates them," says Paul Wuh, an analyst in Hong Kong with Samsung Securities.