China Unicom plans to set foot in HK 3G market

China Unicom<600050><762> is keen on obtaining Hong Kong's 3G license with plans to venture into the local telecoms market. This bid was made following calls from the Hong Kong communications authority for a fifth 3G license provider of CDMA2000 services.

The Hong Kong authority has set the license reserve priced at HK$76 million. With more than half of its international CDMA subscribers frequenting Hong Kong and having been rewarded the CDMA 3G license in Macau last year, China Unicom proves to be a worthy candidate for the bid.

In an effort to entice Hong Kong operators into a joint bidding, China Unicom had halved the outsourcing equipment costs and offered at least HK$30 million a year for roaming fee income. The company has since expressed interest in cooperating with Hutchinson, Wharf T&T and Chengdian Group.

Established in 1994, China Unicom has been a service provider for GSM and CDMA mobile networks, with 111 million and 39 million subscribers respectively as of May this year. Interim results for the first half of the year reported a 5.1% increment from the same period last year at RMB 49.17 billion.