- Market-leading Chinese telecom China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) is down 1.6% in Hong Kong Friday morning after a report in China's 21st Century Business Herald drops the rumor that its smaller rivals, China Telecom (NYSE:CHA) and China Unicom (NYSE:CHU), are set to share 4G base stations.
- The smaller firms have a correspondingly smaller 4G base as China Mobile has made more inroads there. China Mobile has close to 250M 4G subscribers. China Telecom has fewer than 40M, and China Unicom (which doesn't specify its numbers) is targeting 100M by year-end.
- Last month, Deutsche Bank noted that ""ARPU improvement has been elusive for CU due to its slower 4G ramp up vs. the peers and the flight to quality that seems to have occurred for users."
- China Telecom is down 0.5% in Hong Kong, while China Unicom is down 0.4%.
- Previously: China Mobile misses in Q3 despite rising earnings (Oct. 20 2015)
- Previously: Chinese telecoms may gain if deregulation accelerates (Oct. 15 2015)