China Netcom, which is the incumbent carrier in northern China, was serving 15.945 million broadband subscribers as of the end of the first quarter, representing a net increase of 1.516 million from the total number of 14.429 million subscribers at the end of last year and an increase of 32% over the same period last year. 
China Netcom’s traditional fixed-line voice communications business still faced stiff challenges in the first quarter of 2007. However, the number of fixed-line subscribers reversed the downward trend in the fourth quarter of 2006 and reached 114.742 million, representing a net increase of 0.77 million from 113.972 million in the company’s northern service region as at the end of last year.
As of the end of March 2007, China Netcom completed intelligent upgrades of the local fixed-line networks in all its service areas.
Some other highlights of the quarter for China Netcom include the sale of its telecommunication assets in Guangdong Province and Shanghai Municipality. Excluding the effects of the disposed assets and the upfront connection fees, the company said it recorded revenues of RMB20,031 million for the first quarter of 2007, representing an increase of 0.2% over the same period of last year.
http://www.china-netcom.com/
