Unicom adds 1.59m more users and gives upgrade nod to Ericsson
Benjamin Scent
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Mainland mobile operator China Unicom (0762) added 1.59 million new users last month, bringing the number of subscribers at the mainland's No2 carrier up to 150.1 million as global equipment providers eagerly await the introduction of third-generation services in the world's largest market.
The larger of China Unicom's two networks - which is based on the European-backed GSM standard - attracted 1.139 million new users last month, bringing its total to 111.44 million.
The smaller network, based on the US-developed CDMA standard, saw an additional 451,000 new users, boosting the total to 38.66 million.
In April, China Unicom added 1.14 million new GSM customers and 483,000 CDMA customers, for a total of 1.623 million new customers.
China Mobile (0941) had 321.4 million subscribers on its GSM network at the end of April after adding a record 5.28 million new users that month.
China Mobile does not operate a CDMA network.
Meanwhile, Stockholm-based Ericsson announced it has been selected by China Unicom to upgrade its GSM network across six provinces to offer enhanced data services and provide capacity for an additional four million users.
"The framework agreement further increases Ericsson's GSM market share with China Unicom," the network infrastructure provider said in a statement Tuesday.
Under the eagreement, the Swedish company will deploy its mobile softswitch solution to raise Unicom's capacity on its networks in Jilin, Henan, Jiangsu, Yunnan, Hainan and Liaoning provinces.
"We are committed to supporting China Unicom in constantly evolving its network with our latest technology, and we are confident that our proven mobile softswitch solution will allow it to further enhance its service offerings to end users," Ericsson's greater China president Mats Olsson said.
Unicom recently selected Ericsson as a major supplier of general packet radio service, a faster version of GSM, core systems to upgrade its networks in eight provinces.
The provinces are Jilin, Henan, Jiangsu, Hubei, Anhui, Sichuan, Yunnan and Hainan.