CHINA Mobile, the country's biggest mobile communications operator, has taken over China Railcom, a fixed-line phone carrier today, China Mobile announced this morning.
The move is the beginning of the long-awaited restructuring of the telecommunications industry and it's expected that it will speed up the process of issuing 3G licenses, analysts said.
China Railcom will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile, Sina.com reported today.
Wang Jianzhou will remain president of China Mobile, the report said. China Mobile is the parent of China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest cell-phone operator by users.
China Netcom Group Corp Chairman Zhang Chunjiang will become a vice president at China Mobile as part of the revamp, the report added.
As part of the overhaul, China Telecom may buy China Unicom's code-division multiple access network, while the global system for mobile communications operations may be combined with China Netcom, previous reports said.