China Unicom takes the hint, buys China Netcom

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 2nd 2008 at 6:02PM

Taking a cue from the government to consolidate resources in an effort to get the 3G show on the road, China's China Unicom has kicked off a deal with China Netcom to buy out the landline carrier in a stock swap valued at a staggering $56 billion; the whole thing is expected to close by the end of the year. Separately, China Telecom will swipe China Unicom's CDMA network for about $6.3 billion, setting the stage for a new carrier alignment in the country that'll see three companies align as the 3G powerhouses to serve a grand total of 1.3 billion people. Meanwhile, China Mobile is plodding right along with its TD-SCDMA rollout for the Olympics, so there's really no telling how many standards Chinese subscribers will end up dealing with when all is said and done.

[Via mocoNews]

Read - China Unicom / China Netcom deal
Read - China Unicom / China Telecom deal