The fundamentals of telecom growth in China are very good, said Chang Xiaobing, President of China Telecom. Whereas annual GDP growth in China has been running at over 7.5%, telecom growth has been much faster — running at annual growth rate of over 15.7% for the past five years. Chang predicts that the central government’s commitment to aggressive overall economic growth will be especially favorable for telecommunications.
China Telecom is the dominant service provider in the country’s most developed areas, where average incomes are double the national average. The process of urbanization is a major trend in China Telecom’s territory. Dispensable income per capital is on the rise in these areas, leading to additional potential revenue for telecom services.
China Telecom’s overall local line count has reached 65.8 million, including 13.2 million public and business lines, and 7.7 million PHS line subscribers. Total voice traffic volumes grew by only 3.9% during the first half of the year, due to wireless substitution. As of the end of September, China Telecom had 3.52 million broadband users.
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