China Telecommunication Industry Case Study

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nChina Telecommunication Industry Case Study

nIntroduction

nFor a long period, the government controlled telecommunication industry in China. Consequently, few companies had monopolized the industry, leading to lack of competition, and innovation in the market. In China, prior to 1970, telecommunication industry in the country was primarily utilized for administrative and semi-military purposes. Subsequently, the telecommunication industry in China was characterized by management inefficiency, low investment capital and poor technology (Park, JungKun, Yang, and Xinran, 5). However, from 1980s, the government of China realized the importance of developing the telecommunication industry aiming to boost economic growth in the future and to promote the living standards of its people. In this respect, the Chinese government introduced reforms aiming to facilitate change in the telecommunication industry. A wide range of policies has been introduced, which include reduction in tax, reforms in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (MPT), and market restructuring (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 1). Furthermore, the government of China introduced these reforms aiming to take advantage of new business opportunities in the developing countries. Due to these reforms, the telecommunication industry in China has significantly improved in terms of competition, increase government revenues and attracting foreign investments (Park, JungKun, Yang, and Xinran, 6). The telecommunication industry that is state-ran produces less competition, lowers revenues and leads to a lower rate of development.

nIn the 1990s, the telecommunication industry in China was characterized by the state-run monopoly system. Nonetheless, in 1998, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (MPT) in China introduced reforms on government regulation on telecommunication market in order to allow for privatization (Pearson, 2). During this monopoly era, the MPT was responsible for operations, regulations and planning of the telecommunication industry. Consequently, due to the MPT monopoly, the industry resulted to the provision of low quality but very expensive services including transmission of data, mobile services and fixed lines (Yu, Liangchun, Sanford and Qing, 2).

nIn 1988, in an attempt to improve the telecommunication industry, other government ministries related to the MPT, including the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Electronic Power (MEP) and the Ministry of Electronic Industry (MEI) urged the State Council to establish or allow other rival companies to provide services in this sector (Liangchun, Berg, and Guo, p. 2). The government established the China Unicom under direct control of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication. However, the State Council realized the need for domestic competition in 1992 after Dengs Southern Tour (Pearson, 6).

nIn 1994, the government of China formed Jitong Communication Corporation as another stakeholder in provision of Internet services. In this regard, the establishment of China Unicom and Jitong show the commitment of the Chinese government to increase competition in the telecommunication industry (Zhang, 10). Furthermore, the government of China has initiated many structural reforms aiming to improve competition in telecommunication industry (Park, JungKun, Yang, and Xinran, 7). In addition, after the introduction of Jitong Communication Corporation and China Unicom, the exclusive state-monopoly in telecommunication industry in China was changed (Yonggui, and Lo, 14).

nMonopoly

nThe government authority was designed under three levels of administrative and geographical structure aiming to regulate local telecommunication industry. Overall industry was under the supervision and guidance of the MPT at the central level (Yonggui, and Lo, 17). Additionally, the MPT had set its units at the local level know as Post and Telecommunications Administrations (PTAs). The PTAs were formed at municipal and provincial levels. Similarly, Post and Telecommunication Bureaus (PTBS) were created at Prefectural levels, where municipal or provisional PTAs administered them (Yu, Liangchun, Sanford and Qing, 3).

nTherefore, local governments and the central MPT simultaneously administered municipal or provisional PTAs through dual leadership system. Local governments were able to make direct investments and development plans because the MPT had decentralized financial responsibility and decision-making abilities (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 5). Unfortunately, this scheme was aimed at safeguarding the hierarchical structure in China rather than transforming the telecommunication industry to be efficient and improvement of quality. The majority of revenue collected by the MPT from the telecommunication services was then shared among the PTAs but the MPT retained a huge proportion of it. Additionally, monopolized authority between the PTAs and the MPT characterized the revenue distribution in the telecommunication industry (Pearson, 8).

nReforms in the Telecommunication Sector

nIn 1998, the Chinese government established the Ministry of Information Industry, which was a regulatory agency in the country. In addition, the government was committed to restructure the telecommunication markets (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 1). The main reason for reforms in this sector was external forces as well as internal changes and demands. For instance, China was forced to introduce reforms after World Trade Organization introduced business requirements that led to a wave of regulatory reforms across the world. In the domestic market, the government of China introduced a program for administrative restructuring (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 4). Consequently, some industrial ministries were integrated or abolished aiming to reorganize bureaucratic structure that produced inefficiencies in the system. In this respect, the government designed a new regulatory agency, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) (Pearson, 3).

nThe domestic demands in China compelled the government to create a regulatory agency that was responsible for controlling and overseeing the rate of competition increase in the telecommunication market. On the other hand, external forces that compelled the government to introduce reforms were introduced through the World Trade Organization (WTO) accession (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 6).

nMoreover, the Chinese government did not allow foreign investors to provide telecommunication services in the country. However, after it became a member of the WTO, it had to open its telecommunication markets to other worldwide players (Mu and Lee, 3). Similarly, the Chinese government ratified the Basic Telecommunication Agreement (BTA) (Yan, 4). Under the provisions of the BTA, the government of China had to immediately open the telecommunication services to other international investment companies (Pearson, 5). Furthermore, it had to stipulate the highest level of ration from ownership of international firms within a period of six years (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 2).

nFurthermore, the Basic Telecommunication Agreement stipulated that following foreign investors entry in a country, they could take up ownership of approximately 50 percent in 2 years of the value-added services. However, in a period of five to six years, foreign firms could take nearly 49 percent of ownership in the fixed-line and mobile services (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 14). According to the terms of the BTA, the Chinese government was required to implement fair and transparent criteria in terms of licensing services and the establishment of an autonomous body that regulated the telecommunication industry (Yan, 5).

nIn this respect, the government of China experienced huge challenges in its implementation of global standards in telecommunication sector. Additionally, after becoming a member of the World Trade Organization, many foreign telecommunications giants were willing to invest in the country (Zhang, 11). Subsequently, the government of China decided to establish a large-scale telecommunication company that would help domestic businesses to compete with foreign investors (Bhattasali, 1).

nReforms in telecommunication sector in China replaced the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication with the Ministry of Information and Industry. The MII changed the monopoly in the market as well as regulations governing the industry (Pearson, 9). Besides, the Ministry of Information Industry, facilitated reduction of bureaucratic conflicts between the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication and other government ministries such as Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Electronic on the issues of monopoly. Prior to introduction of reforms, the MPT promoted unfair competition between China Unicom and China Telecom (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 8).

nHowever, after the establishment of the new law, it integrated the Ministry of Electronic Industry (MEI) and the Ministry of Post and telecommunication (MPT) forming the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), which promotes fair completion in the Chinese market of telecommunication (Mu and Lee, 49). Most importantly, the Ministry of information and Industry has a supervisory role to ensure and encourage fair competition in the market and provide guidance in drafting the majority of rules and policies such as market competition and service fees (Yan, 5). China Telecom enjoyed a monopoly in the market, but after the entry of the international players, the market completion in this sector has increased. Therefore, the state had to increase its efforts to restructure the industry in order to foster growth and development (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 9).

nComparison of the Telecommunication reforms

nThe former regime in the telecommunication industry in China was led through the Ministry of Post and telecommunication (MPT). However, after the introduction of reforms, the new regulatory agencies involve three main state institutions, which include the SASAC, the NDRC and the MII (Peilei, 12). Relative to the former regimes that involved a single actor, the new regulatory regime involves many state actors (Pearson, 10). Therefore, the level of transparency was likely to be high. On the other hand, these regulatory agencies such as the MII are significantly constrained (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 14). The Chinese government has also introduced a well-designed state-led market structure. There is also a robust state ownership.

nThe Ministry of Information Industry (MII)

nThe state commitment to initiate regulatory reforms can be demonstrated by establishment of a regulatory institution – the MII. The main responsibility of this institution was to monitor and facilitate fair competition among service carriers in telecommunication sector (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 10). Although, the regulator is determined to provide fair competition, it has experienced huge challenges due to poor coordination in the state organizations and internal structure of governance (Liangchun, Berg, and Guo, p. 17). Most notably, although the MII is mandated to provide fair competition in China, it collaborates with two state institutions to make decisions, which include the State-Owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) and the National Development and Reform Commission NDRC) (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 13).

nChina Mobile LTD

nChina Mobile was formerly known as China Telecom. A holding firm offers cellular phone services to more than six mainland provinces. Initially its main investors were China Telecommunication Corp under the Ministry of Information Industry. It was established in 1998 after the China Telecom was split into four companies. Its shares are listed in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange (Pearson, 2).

nPresently, it enjoys about 65 percent of the total subscribers in China. In addition, China Mobile is only second to Vodafone with regard to subscriber base in the world. In the Peoples Republic of China, it owns many communication companies (Mu and Lee, 12). By the year 2000, China Mobile had more than 75 million subscribers and recorded net profit margins of $ 2.17 billion. Besides, by 2000, it was the only telecommunication company in China to use global system for mobile communication (GSM) technology (Yonggui, and Lo, 15).

nHowever, in order to reduce dominance in the market, the Ministry of Information Industry allocated the licenses to other firms. Mobile China provides mobile telecommunication services in Hainan, Henan, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces. It also provides wireless Internet services and wireless data. It is the leading firm in China in the provision of wireless data services. Research by Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie indicates that in 2001, it was the largest firm in the world in terms of global system for mobile communication (GSM) technology, with over 90 SMS Centers. The firm also had plans to provide GPRS systems. The firm has also initiated revenue-sharing strategy known as Monternet (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 7). The strategy is a regulatory initiative where the firm provides value-added data services. In this regard, it has entered into partnership with other players aiming to establish a variety of services for cellular subscribers (Yan, 6). The main reason for this initiative is to increase its revenue and subscribers.

nChina Unicom LTD

nThe Chinese Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Electric Power and Ministry of Electronics (MEI) in 1994 formed the China Unicom in order to avoid the monopoly of China Telecom. China United Telecommunication Corporation (Unicom Group) owns the firm. The company is under direct control of the Ministry of Finances (Bhattasali, 3). It provides various services such as in Internet, data, satellite, paging and long distance businesses. It also provides wireless data services through wireless application protocol (WAP) technologies to cellular and paging subscribers (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 5).

nFurthermore, through the public switched telephone network (PSTN), it offers international and domestic long-distance services to its customers. Similarly, via Packet-switched network, it provides Internet protocol (IP) services (Mu and Lee, 12). China Unicom also provides 3G (third generation) services to its mobile communication.

nIn terms of data services, the firm has expanded its business to offer services such as virtual private network, (VPN) services, and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). The firm uses international broadband transmission services such as synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 3). Due to the adoption of advanced technology, it recorded $ 2862 million in its revenue, which represented a 36 percent improvement. Its growth rate was 285 percent because of its net income of $ 390 million. In 2002, China Unicom was the only company in China that provided complete telecommunication services. In 2003, it had more than 40 000 employees and occupied approximately a quarter of the entire market shares. Reforms in its management have facilitated the firm to offer services of higher quality, affordable and reliable services (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 10). Moreover, the company is providing its services at competitive prices. Furthermore, it has started to upgrade and extend its services and mobile networks in order to improve quality in China.

nChina Mobile Communication Development

nAfter the introduction of reforms, the Chinese market in mobile communication has recorded significant improvement. There are two main mobile operators, which include China Unicom and China Mobile. The two firms have led to a lot of competition in the market and increase in profits over the recent past (Yonggui, and Lo, 18). Furthermore, China has recorded a significant number of subscribers, which by 2006, there were more than 461 million. On the other hand, the rate of coverage in mobile phones was 35.3 units per 100 individuals. Research has indicated than by March 2007, the number of mobile phones subscribers in China was more than 480 million (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 7).

nResearch by Pearson compared between local communication length of mobile phones and fixed telephone for a period between January and March 2007. The study revealed that the total communication length of mobile phones increased by 36 percent as compared to fixed telephone that decreased by 6.1 percent in the same period (Pearson, 10). The mobile telephone calls locally had recorded an increase of nearly 35 percent relative to previous years (Mu and Lee, 12). Most notably, the revenues from the mobile communication industry to the Chinese government contribute to approximately 40 percent of its total business revenues (Peilei, 13).

nMarket Structure in China

nThe Chinese government established the China Unicom in 1994. However, in 1999, the government created China Mobile from China Telecom. Since that period, the government has allowed only two operators, i.e. China Unicom and China Mobile in the mobile communication market. China Mobile recorded huge business income as compared to China Unicom (Pearson, 11). For instance, China Mobile recorded three consecutive increases in 2003, 2004 and 2005, which were 171.9 billion Yuan, 203.99 billion Yuan and 243.041 billion Yuan respectively. However, the China Unicom recorded 66.7 billion, 70.74 billion and 72.89 billion Yuan during the same period. Following the development of the CDMA Data service in 2001 by China Unicom, its business income has recorded positive trend of improvement. However, the business income between the China Mobile and China Unicom mobile operators is in the ratio of 3:1 (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 9). Moreover, the government revenues increased. For instance, in 1985, the government revenue was 2 billion Yuan as compared to 11 billion Yuan, 120 billion Yuan and 210 billion Yuan in 1990, 1996 and 2004 respectively.

nMoreover, in terms of subscribers, China Mobile enjoys a massive number of subscribers in the country as compared to China Unicom. For instance, in 2005, China Mobile had more than 246 million subscribers as compared to 127 million subscribers of China Unicom in the same year. In this respect, China Mobile has a dominant position in the country compared to China Unicom (Mu and Lee, 12). The CDMA network and the GSM network of China Mobile are not at the same level with China Mobile. Furthermore, China Mobile has an attractive client brand and enterprise brand relative to that of China Unicom.

nProduct differentiation

nChina Mobile and China Unicom use similar telecommunication technology. However, some differences in terms of strategies of advertising, the communication quality and convenience of services create a diverse identification of users to the two businesses. Therefore, these factors create buyers subjective differences. For instance, China Mobile is the leading operator in the country. In this respect, its network coverage is approximately 99 percent of the major cities across the nation (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 8). In addition, it has stable communication quality, hence it is able to attract customers who usually require roaming services.

nIn terms of advertising, China Mobile promotes different products and brands such as Easy Own, M-zone and GoTone that are designed for various clients groups. On the other hand, China Unicom promotes faster growth of each business through the strategy known as Brand Integrated Resource (BIR). The operators are willing to accomplish a short-term growth of market share via pricing strategy and advertising (Pearson, 14).

nNon-dominant firms use marketing strategy and promote their investments in advertising aiming to take advantage of the asymmetric price policy. On the other hand, dominant operators require enhancing their advertising investments in order to minimize the influence of policy in their shares in the mobile communication market (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 9). However, research has indicated that operators in the Chinese mobile communication market do not increase their investment in terms of research and development. Instead, they have increased their advertisement investments hence they have ignored research on customers needs (Peilei, 14).

nEntry barriers in China telecommunication Industry

nMany new operators who aim to enter the Chinese telecommunication industry experiences some challenges because the government limits radio frequency resources. Due to this limitation, the government can only allow the less number of operators in the market (Mu and Lee, 12). Furthermore, due to the huge fixed cost of communication technology development and research as well as basic network construction it is difficult for new companies to enter in the mobile communication market. Moreover, the economic scale of this industry acts a huge entry barrier. Most notably, research indicates that one of the main barriers of mobile communication market in China is the practices of the government that strictly control license system for mobile communication accessibility (Kshetri, Nir, and Maggie, 12). Therefore, foreign companies experience huge challenges to enter and establish competitive threats to well-established companies in China.

nCompetition from substitutes

nPersonal Handy-Phone system form one of the main substitutes of mobile communication in China. To some degree, the personal handy-phone system affects mobile phone volumes in the local telephone business. In 2007, the government recorded approximately 91 million personal handy-phone system (PHS) subscribers (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 11). The numbers accounts for nearly 24 percent of the sum of subscribers of fixed telephone. In the field of long distance telephone calls IP phone services is the main substitute of mobile phones. In 2002, the Ministry of Information Industry recorded the growth rate of 69.5 percent and 196 percent of IP phone services in International Calls and domestic long distance telephone calls respectively. Similarly, international calls and domestic long distance telephone call services experienced a growth rate of 18 percent and 41 percent, respectively (Jiang, Malik, and Shou, 11).

nCompetitive Price in Mobile Communication Market

nSince 2001, China mobile communication industry has experienced stiff competition in terms of tariff package. The Ministry of Information Industry approved the tariff package for mobile phones in China in 2001 (Jiang, Malik, and Shou, 9). Therefore, the approval triggered competition between the two leading firms, i.e. China Unicom and China Mobile. Consequently, customers have experienced benefits from the tariff packages in China relative to before the introduction of this program (Pearson, 15). The two leading operators have introduced different strategies aiming to win many subscribers. For instance, there have been promotional activities and introduction of different types of preferential activities such as incentive programs, monthly receiving calls and quasi unilateral-charging. Reforms of mobile fees in this sector illustrate that the mobile phone tariff has been fully changed from regulations of the government to market pricing (Wang, Hing-Po Lo, and Yongheng, 12). In addition, the Ministry of Information Industry has allocated the rights of pricing to mobile communication operators in China.

nGrowth and Development of Chinese Telecommunication Industry

nIn 2000, the telecommunication industry in China recorded an increase of approximately 25 percent. For instance, the number of telephone lines increased to nearly 180 million lines. In addition, the capacity of terminal increased to 5.5 million (Yonggui, and Lo, 17). In terms of investments, telecommunication, industry recorded 26 percent of the industry investment in 2000 to arrive at 214 billion. In this respect, China was the second biggest telephone network across the world in 2000 (Pearson, 13). During the same period, the country had more than 1 million kilometers of fiber-optic cables. The customers in telephone industry were nearly 230 million, where the number of mobile phone users was about 85 million while fixed telephone lines had 145 million customers (Jiang, Malik, and Shou, 11).

nSimilarly, in 2000, research indicates that total businesses involving telecommunication in China contributed to 350 billion Yuan in 2000. China Unicom and China Mobile generated approximately 25 billion Yuan and 111.6 billion Yuan in that year respectively. The Internet services also recorded an increase of 6.1 million new subscribers. Furthermore, the mobile communication capacity increased by 49 million to 130 million. In terms of long-distance circuit, the industry recorded an increase of 1.4 million circuits, hence reaching 3.4 million (Jiang, Malik, and Shou, 14). The connection of Fiber optic cables in China has increased to more than 1.25 million kilometers.

nMany mobile manufacturers have established mobile handset manufacturing in China. In 2000, reports indicate that mobile phones handset manufacturers recorder total sales of nearly 405 million units across the world (Liangchun, Berg, and Guo, p. 15). The telecommunication industry in China is one of the most profitable in the world because it generates more than 46 percent of the total government revenue. China has the lowest penetration rates of mobile phone as compared to the rest of Asian countries (Peilei, 14). Additionally, China has the highest volume of shipment in the Pacific-Asian region.

nMobile Market in China

nBy 2001, China was second largest mobile telecommunication market in the world with approximately 100 million subscribers. In the previous year, Chia had overtaken Japan as the leading mobile phone market in the Pacific-Asia region. Since that period, China has been recording 86 percent of mobile subscription every year. As compared to fixed telephone, cell phone, business produces higher profits (Pearson, 13). For instance, reports in 2000 indicated that more than half of the incomes in telecommunication came from mobile phones exceeding the total incomes from paging and long-distance business and local fixed-line phones. In particular, in 2001, China Mobile controlled approximately three quarters of the total mobile users with approximately 76 million users. However, China Unicom enjoyed nearly one quarter of the mobile market with 25 million users (Yan, 9).

nResearch by Jiang, Malik, and Shou indicates that the telecommunication sector in China recorded a growth rate of approximately 20 percent for five consecutive years from 1997 to 2002 (Jiang, Malik, and Shou, 12). Due to high rates of telecommunication growth in China, the countrys economy was growing at the fastest rates across the world during that period. In both mobile and fixed-line operators, there were more than $ 25 billion investments in the country in terms of network infrastructure over the past decade. In this respect, Chinese investment in telecommunications exceeds that of all western European combines (Park, JungKun, Yang, and Xinran, 11). Since China is the most populous nation on earth, with an average of 1.3 billion people, it has the biggest mobile and fixed-line network with regard to both the number of subscribers and network capacity.

nWhen the telecommunication industry in China was controlled by the state, there were only 10 percent of Chinese citizens who had access to telephones. However, after implementation of reforms, the more than 70 percent of Chinese have access to fixed telephone (Jiang, Malik, and Shou, 12). In addition, China records about 1.25 million cellular subscriptions every week. A study by Yan projected that in three years time, China will have approximately 950 million mobile and fixed subscriptions, which is three times more than the total population in the US (Yan, 13).

nForeign participation in Telecommunication industry in China

nPrior to ratification of World Trade Organization (WTO), the economic policy of Chinese government offered protection to domestic telecommunication companies. The government only approved foreign equipment vendors to invest in China. Besides, worldwide telecommunication carriers were abolished from entering the market. However, the government only allowed investments on technology transfer (Pearson, 14). Fortunately, the government of China has opened the telecommunication market to foreign investors. In such cases, they are required to develop Joint Ventures to invest about 50 percent of in the provision of Internet services across the nation. Furthermore, foreign investors can provide 49 percent of mobile services in 18 main cities in China as well as 25 percent of investment in fixed-line services in 3 major cities of Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing (Park, JungKun, Yang, and Xinran, 10). For foreign investors wishing to enter the Chinese telecommunication market, they must find a partner in China whom they form a Joint Venture with.

nConclusion

nThe current competition trend, advanced technology and increase in revenue in China telecommunication industry are effects of reforms in government regulation (Yonggui, and Lo, 15). The factors that affect competition and market structure of telecommunication industry involve regulation policies, changes in market and technological advances (Yan, 11). Prior to the establishment of Ministry of Information Industry, the government of China created regulations policies that did not encourage competition among service providers while customers could not access affordable and quality services. However, after introduction of reforms both the customers and operators have benefited (Peilei, 15). The new changes produced a good atmosphere that supported businesses and encouraged investors. Government revenues are expected to increase leading to a higher rate of economic growth.

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nWork cited

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