CHINA Telecom Corp and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd admitted fault in a broadband access antitrust case, Caixin Online reported, without saying where it got the information.

The two Chinese firms told the National Development and Reform Commission they will change certain practices and may agree to a settlement, Caixin said, without giving details.

The investigation may result in "billions of yuan" of fines, state-run China Central Television reported on November 9, citing Li Qing, deputy director-general of the NDRC's department of pricing supervision. The case is the first antitrust probe against state-controlled companies taken by a Chinese agency, Frank Schoneveld, a Shanghai-based partner at law firm McDermott Will & Emery, said.

China Telecom is cooperating in the probe, Jacky Yung, a Hong Kong-based spokesman, said by phone. Unicom doesn't have additional information about the probe, said Sophia Tso, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman.

China Telecom, the country's biggest broadband Internet provider, fell 1.9 percent to HK$4.71 (61 US cents) in Hong Kong. Unicom, the second biggest telco, rose 1.1 percent to HK$16.78.

China United Network Communications Corp, Unicom's broadband unit, is giving the NDRC details on pricing, volume and sales for its bandwidth-leasing business last year, the parent firm said on November 9. China Telecom's services are "strictly in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations," it said on November 10.