China Mobile Explores 5G Tie-Up With National Cable TV Operator
by Liu Yanfei and Yang Ge of Caixin Global
China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest wireless carrier by subscribers, said it is talking with a recently formed national cable TV operator about cooperation in upcoming 5G networks and services, as it looks for new income sources to jumpstart its stagnating revenue.
China Mobile controls about 60% of its massive home market, making it flush with cash for aggressive spending on a state-of-the-art 5G network that has become a recent top priority for Beijing. By comparison, China Broadcasting Network Corp. was formed only five years ago by cobbling together many of the nation’s regional cable TV operators, and is relatively cash poor.
China Mobile and its two peers, China Telecom Corp. Ltd. and China Unicom Telecommunication Corp. Ltd., all received 5G licenses when the regulator awarded them in June, a move that was widely expected. But many industry watchers were surprised when China Broadcasting also received a 5G license because the company is relatively cash-poor and also has little or no experience in wireless services.
China Mobile had previously made known its desire to work with China Broadcasting, even though Unicom and China Telecom opposed such a move. China Mobile Chairman Yang Jie told Caixin on Thursday that talks between the two sides have taken place on building and sharing 5G networks, but he added there is nothing to reveal just yet.
“Building and sharing 5G networks is something the nation also supports, and businesses are also quite willing,” he told Caixin on the sidelines of an event to discuss the company’s latest financial results, which were also released on Thursday.
China Mobile Chairman Yang Jie says Thursday in Hong Kong that his company and China Broadcasting have discussed building and sharing 5G networks. Photo: VCG
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
A collaboration with China Broadcasting would give China Mobile access to one of the country’s biggest providers of programming via the former’s vast cable network. Such a tie-up could help to reinvigorate China Mobile’s revenues, which have stagnated in recent years as demand for its core wireless voice and data services starts to mature.
On Thursday, China Mobile reported interim results that showed the company’s revenue dipped by 0.9% to 204.4 billion yuan ($29 billion) in this year’s second quarter, while its profit plunged 18.8% to 32.4 billion yuan, according to calculations by Caixin.
China Broadcasting was formed in 2014 by combining many of the country’s regional cable-TV operators. It was originally set up to run cable TV networks, but was granted a license to operate internet and telecom services in 2016.
Before issuing 5G licenses in June, China’s telecom regulator called a meeting with each of the three big carriers’ top officials in charge of network construction, a source close to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) previously told Caixin. China Mobile raised its hopes of working together with China Broadcasting on that occasion, even though Unicom and China Telecom opposed.
As the nation’s dominant carrier, China Mobile is spending the most aggressively on 5G. Figures from the company indicate it now plans to spend about 24 billion yuan on the network this year. By comparison, Unicom has said it plans to spend 6 billion yuan to 8 billion yuan on 5G this year, while China Telecom has said it plans to spend about 9 billion yuan.
Contact reporter Yang Ge ([email protected]; twitter: @youngchinabiz)
Original article at: https://www.caixinglobal.com/2019-08-09/china-mobile-talks-5g-tie-up-with-national-cable-tv-operator-101449253.html
4 thoughts on “China Mobile Explores 5G Tie-Up With National Cable TV Operator”
Comments are closed.
China Mobile’s first-half result was the first in a decade in which it recorded falls in both revenue and profit. Its stock is down 10% in the past month and 15% for the year.
The tepid industry outlook is leading analysts to look harder at the factors weighing on Chinese telcos.
One is the sheer scale of investment. Analyst firm CCID estimates the 5G rollout, with its huge small cell deployment, will cost up to three times as much as 4G, according to 21st Century Business Herald.
The government telecom research arm, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, has estimated total 5G investment might reach RMB2.8 trillion ($411 billion) in the period from 2020 to 2030.
Total industry capex last year was RMB287 billion ($40.8 billion), with 5G accounting for just a fraction of that amount.
China now has the lowest mobile data rates of any major market of between 3 and 17 US dollar cents per month per GB. Adjusting for per capita income, that compares with rates of 24 cents in Japan and 22 cents in the US, according to figures from Jefferies.
In addition, the operators, as state-owned entities, are easily roped into various government schemes. The three have spent more than RMB40 billion on running fiber and 4G to remote villages in the last three years in support of universal service projects.
But Edison Lee, an equity research analyst at Jefferies, points out that the government and telcos may be held back by the US sanctions on Huawei.
If those last, China may not be able to build 5G on as big a scale as it intends, he said.
“That will mean more hope of lower capex for the Chinese telcos but will spell more downside risk for global communications tech supply chain.
“This could significantly set back the 5G rollout timetable of China and also globally.”
https://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/5g-too-big-even-for-china/d/d-id/753438?
A new 5G era is coming to China and gradually to other countries of the world. This collaboration is amazing. I hope that it will last longer and people can get speedy wireless internet with ultra low latency/ ultra high reliability for mission critical industrial applications. Thanks for sharing this news!
I’m always astounded concerning the remarkable insight you provide in IEEE Techblog posts. One key question for China Mobile and other cellular network operators seeking 5G sharing partnerships is WHAT NETWORK FACILITIES WILL BE SHARED? Also, 5G roaming agreements, compatible: RAN specifications/ frequencies, network slicing and virtualization mechanisms.
WSJ: In the Race to Dominate 5G, China Sprints Ahead
Because 5G is set to be embedded in so many fields of endeavor, the country that dominates the technology is likely to reap outsize profits, attract top-tier engineering talent and seize an edge in other critical future technologies, including weaponry.
President Trump has said 5G is a race that the U.S. must win. But while American wireless carriers are leading in early deployment of the technology, some telecom-industry leaders say Beijing is poised to vault ahead in coming months.
While U.S. wireless carriers shuffle from city to city to introduce 5G, China plans to blanket urban areas with it by the end of next year and the rest of the country soon after. A local manager at one carrier estimated that even Tongguan, which lacks modern plumbing, could get the superfast networks by 2021.
“We look forward to 5G,” said Wu Shengmin, Tongguan’s baby-faced village chief. His locale boasts superb service on current 4G systems that would be the envy in much of the U.S., courtesy of a nearby cellular tower nestled in a tree-covered peak.
As it did in constructing its high-speed rail network and Olympic Games infrastructure, the Chinese government has flexed its authoritarian, top-down power to clear red tape for a 5G project that it deems a national priority. It has directed regulators, provincial and local governments and its three major state-owned wireless carriers to work together.
In the U.S., where residents are prone to complain loudly about new cellphone towers going up next door, Washington’s strategy is far from unified. The White House hasn’t taken an important step to clear the military from valuable 5G airwaves, while measures from the Federal Communications Commission meant to fast-track 5G have actually created infighting among Washington, municipal governments and private wireless carriers, which are now suing one another.
American officials and wireless-industry leaders say they are clearing roadblocks and that the U.S. will maintain its lead in 5G, citing projections showing that a greater proportion of Americans will use the technology compared with the Chinese in a few years.
“Beijing can snap its fingers and put up untold cellular towers overnight, but in the long run, I have more faith in the U.S. system,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the organization’s point person on wireless infrastructure. “Beijing is known for wasteful, debt-fueled spending on massive infrastructure projects. You don’t have to look further than some of the ghost cities across China.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-the-race-to-dominate-5g-china-has-an-edge-11567828888