China Telecom to buy 3G assets from parent

China Telecom Corporation, in order to cut its long term costs is planning to purchase the 3G assets of its parent company China Telecom Group.

China Telecom Corp will pay more than CNY120 billion (USD18.97 billion) for the parent’s 3G infrastructure and frequencies, to save against rising leasing costs.

Although China Telecom Corp has the market’s smallest wireless customer base, recording 144.18 million subscribers by end-June 2012, but has the highest level of 3G penetration within its customer base with 36% of its users on 3G subscriptions.

The carrier is expected to announce plans later this month on the acquisition, they said.

China Telecom’s spokesman said the company is planning to purchase the mobile network assets from its parent by the end of this year. Proposal will be submitted to the shareholders for approval in due course.