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China Telecommunications Corporation

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China Telecommunications Corporation
China Telecom
Native name
中国电信集团有限公司
FormerlyDirectorate General of Telecommunications
Company typeState-owned enterprise
IndustryHolding company
Founded27 April 1995; 29 years ago (1995-04-27)
FounderMinistry of Posts and Telecommunications
HeadquartersBeijing, China
Shanghai, China
Area served
China, Philippines
RevenueUS$ 87.9 billion (2023)[1]
US$ 2.2 billion (2023)[1]
Total assetsUS$ 151.9 billion (2023)[1]
OwnerChinese Government (100%)
Number of employees
391,691 (2023)[1]
Subsidiaries

China Telecommunications Corporation (中国电信集团有限公司), known as its trading name China Telecom, is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed-line service and the third largest mobile telecommunication provider in China.

The corporation has three listed companies: China Telecom Corporation Limited (中国电信股份有限公司), China Communications Services Corporation Limited (中国通信服务股份有限公司), and Besttone Holding Co., Ltd. (号百控股股份有限公司).

History

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The company originated as a government agency of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications [zh]. On 27 April 1995, it was registered as a separate legal entity as Directorate General of Telecommunications, P&T, China, using "China Telecom" as brand name.[2] On 17 May 2000 it was registered as China Telecommunications Corporation. In May 2002, China Netcom Corporation was spun off as a separate company that was also supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council directly. It also owned subsidiaries in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Henan and Shandong that formerly belonged to China Telecommunications Corporation.[3] According to the United States Department of Defense, the company has links to the People's Liberation Army.[4]

On 10 September 2002, a subsidiary, China Telecom, was listed.[5][6] The listed company gradually acquired the assets from China Telecommunications Corporation.[5] As of 31 December 2016, however, China Telecommunications Corporation still owned the controlling stake in the company, for 70.89%.[5]

In 2009 China Telecommunications Corporation received some of the assets of China Satellite Communications.[7][8]

The company provides fixed-line and Xiaolingtong (Personal Handy-phone System) telephone services to 216 million people as of April 2008,[9][failed verification] and broadband internet access to over 38 million subscribers, providing approximately 62% (46 Gbit/s) of China's internet bandwidth.[10] On 2 June 2008, China Telecommunications Corporation announced[citation needed] that it would purchase China Unicom's nationwide CDMA business and assets for CN¥110 billion, giving it 43 million mobile subscribers.[11] According to the company, the listed portion of China Telecom Group (China Telecom Corp., Ltd.) paid CN¥43.8 billion, the unlisted portion of China Telecom Group (China Telecommunications Corporation) paid CN¥66.2 billion.[3]

On 7 January 2009, China Telecommunications Corporation was awarded CDMA 2000 license to expand its business to 3G telecommunication.[12]

U.S. sanctions

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In November 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting U.S. companies and individuals from owning shares in companies that the United States Department of Defense has listed as having links to the People's Liberation Army, which included China Telecom.[13] In consequence of the executive order, the New York Stock Exchange delisted China Telecom in January 2021.[13]

In December 2020, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiated proceedings to revoke China Telecom's authorization to operate in the U.S. due to national security concerns.[14] In October 2021, the FCC revoked China Telecom's operating license in the U.S.[15] In March 2022, the FCC designated a U.S. subsidiary of the company, China Telecom (Americas) Corp, a national security threat.[16]

Consolidation and expansion

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On 2 June 2008, the company announced it would acquire China Unicom's CDMA business and network for CN¥110 billion in cash, a series of transactions aimed at transforming the company into a fully integrated telecommunications operator.[11]

Such shifts mark a new era for the telecommunications industry in China in which analyst have further commented that these changes are aimed at promoting a more fair and competitive industry environment.[17]

China Telecom was chosen by the Chinese Government as an investor in the Philippines for providing telecom services.[18][19] They were later chosen as 'provisional' telecommunications provider of the country after a bidding led by the Philippine government on November 7, 2018. As current laws restrict foreign ownership to 40%, China Telecom (through its parent company)[20][21][22] forms a venture with local companies Udenna Corporation (owner of Phoenix Petroleum) and Chelsea Logistics under the franchise of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc (or the Mislatel consortium). The selection was formalized on 20 November after the Philippine National Telecommunications Commission junked petitions from its rival bids.[23] On 8 July 2019, Mislatel was renamed to Dito Telecommunity and at the same time, was granted its permit to operate.[20][21][22] The firm began its commercial operations on 8 March 2021.[24]

Subsidiaries

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As of 9 July 2019

Allegations of rerouted Internet traffic

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On 8 April 2010, China Telecom rerouted about 15% of foreign Internet traffic through Chinese servers for 18 minutes.[26][27] The traffic included the commercial websites of Dell, IBM, Microsoft, and Yahoo! as well as U.S. government and military sites.[28] China Telecom denied hijacking any Internet traffic.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "China Telecommunications". Fortune GLobal 500. Fortune. Archived from the original on 24 August 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  2. ^ "邮电部关于电信总局对内对外称谓及"中国电信"企业标识使用有关问题的通知" (Press release) (in Chinese). Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (China). 1 November 1995. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b "2007–2009 Three Year Financial Report" (PDF) (in Chinese). China Telecommunications Corporation. 1 March 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  4. ^ Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (24 June 2020). "Defense Department produces list of Chinese military-linked companies". Axios. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "2016 Annual Report" (PDF). China Telecom. 6 April 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  6. ^ "List of H Share Companies (Main Board)". Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 30 June 2017. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Industry shakeup creates 3 telecom giants". China Daily. 25 May 2008. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  8. ^ "China Satcom taken over amid telecom reshuffle". China Daily. 10 April 2009. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  9. ^ China Telecom Key Performance Indicators
  10. ^ "Internet Filtering in China in 2004–2005: A Country Study". Opennetinitiative.net. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  11. ^ a b "ROUNDUP China Unicom acquires Netcom, sells CDMA assets as telco reorg takes off". Forbes. 2 June 2008. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  12. ^ Wang Xing (8 January 2009). "China issues 3G licenses". China Daily. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  13. ^ a b Mozur, Paul (1 January 2021). "New York to Delist Chinese Telecom Firms in Symbolic Shift". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  14. ^ Shepardson, David (11 December 2020). "FCC begins process of halting China Telecom U.S. operations". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  15. ^ Shepardson, David (27 October 2021). "FCC revokes authorization of China Telecom's U.S. unit". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  16. ^ Shepardson, David; Satter, Raphael (26 March 2022). "U.S. FCC adds Russia's Kaspersky, China telecom firms to national security threat list". Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  17. ^ "China orders sweeping telecom merger". USA TODAY. 26 May 2008. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  18. ^ "China Telecom to help establish 3rd PH telco player – Andanar". Rappler. Manila. 10 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  19. ^ "China Telecom picked to become the Philippines' third telecoms player". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Reuters. 11 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Mislatel, now Dito Telecommunity, gets permit to operate as 3rd telco". CNN Philippines. 8 July 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  21. ^ a b Balinbin, Arjay L. (8 July 2019). "Mislatel to rebrand as 'Dito Telecommunity' after getting license". BusinessWorld. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  22. ^ a b Parrocha, Azer (8 July 2019). "PRRD hands Mislatel Consortium permit to operate as 3rd telco". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  23. ^ @DICTgovph (19 November 2018). "OFFICIAL: NTC En Banc confirms Mislatel consortium as the country's New Telco Major Player READ full story here:…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ Fenol, Jessica (8 March 2021). "DITO now available in Visayas, Mindanao; will be in NCR 'in a few weeks'". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  25. ^ "2016 Annual Report" (PDF) (in Chinese). Besttone Holding. 22 April 2017. p. 35. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  26. ^ Crittenden, Michael R. (17 November 2010). "Chinese Firm 'Hijacked' U.S. Data in April". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  27. ^ Shepardson, David (3 September 2024). "White House asks agencies to step up internet routing security efforts". Reuters. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Section 2: External Implications of China's Internet-related Activities" (PDF). USCC 2010 Annual Report. U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2010.
  29. ^ Young, Doug (17 November 2010). "China Telecom denies hijacking U.S. Web traffic". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
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Media related to China Telecom at Wikimedia Commons