China Mobile Said to Choose Partners for Telecom Resales
Giant chooses 17 partners to resell its services, source says, as government pilot program nears launch
By staff reporter Qin Min
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(Beijing) – China Mobile, the country's largest telecom operator, has selected 17 companies as partners for a government pilot program on telecom resale business expected to be launched soon, a source close to the situation says.
"(The list of) 17 partners has been preliminarily decided, including some companies also selected by China Telecom and China Unicom," the source said.
The list still needs to be reviewed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which is organizing the pilot program. China Mobile has not made an official announcement on its choices.
The partners can participate in a pilot program for telecoms resales by acting as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The program would allow private companies that do not own wireless networks or facilities to resell wholesale services, such as wireless call time, they buy from telecom carriers to other companies or individual users.
China Telecom and China Unicom reportedly selected more than a dozen partners for a pilot program, including retailers and Internet companies such as Gome Electrical Appliances, Suning Appliance Co., Jingdong Mall and Alibaba Group.
Gong Bin, general manager of consulting firm Beijing Both Future Consulting Co., said that compared to China Telecom and China Unicom, China Mobile may have more MVNO partners because it is larger.
Gong said that in addition to major retailers, China Mobile also chose partners that focus on a specific industry and corporate services in order to supplement its business while differentiating itself from China Telecom and China Unicom.
Calls to launch the telecom resale business started in 2004. The involvement of MVNOs in the telecoms industry would give it more diversity and provide customers with more choices than those offered by the Big Three telecoms firms, experts say.
Analysts predict that the resale market will have annual revenue of at least 20 billion yuan, which is why many private companies are keen to get involved.
Another source close to the pilot program said none of the selected partners has completed preparations for launching MVNO services. "Everyone is still waiting for the MIIT's final policy and detailed terms, and then they will start construction," the source said.
However, he said the MIIT has required that services be launched before May
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