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Telecom Firms Urged to Tap Into Overseas Markets
Experts say the domestic telecom operators who currently focus on domestic market expansion should not ignore market niches abroad, especially where the world's giants are reluctant to go.
In anticipation of the country's WTO accession, China is stepping up its pace to deregulate the telecom service market.
More telecom service operators, along with the current giants China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, are expected to emerge in the next few years.
At present, almost all local telecom operators are seeking ways to fatten their domestic market presence.
Zhongxing Telecom, one of China's leading telecom equipment manufacturers, made the first step abroad by establishing a joint venture in the African Congo.
Zhongxing takes a controlling share of 51 per cent in the Congo China Telecom Corp (CCT) while the rest belongs to the Ministry of Post and Telecom with Congo.
The joint venture, based in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, will provide both mobile and fixed line services across the country.
Shenzhen-based Zhongxing Telecom plans to invest 164 million yuan (US$19.76 million) to deploy and operate a telecom network in Congo, according to the company's spokesman Zhang Xiaoping.
"The CCT project should have been the job of China's telecom service operators rather than the equipment supplier," said Song Junde, a professor with the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications.
Song urged the government to encourage domestic telecom service operators to seek fortunes abroad.
"It not only benefits the operators themselves but also creates equipment demand for domestic telecom suppliers."
An official with China Unicom said that they appreciate Zhongxing's move and will seek an appropriate time to conduct business abroad.
Although China's telecom service market is used to being monopolized, the local equipment suppliers who face acute competition from foreign giants have already become market-oriented.
China's top telecom equipment suppliers have been exploring foreign markets for several years. They have gained market presence in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.
"We hope our move can make an example for the domestic telecom service operators," said Zhang. (China Daily)
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