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China Telecom Mulls Entry Into US Telecoms Market

Posted by timothy on from the let-me-introduce-you-to-the-guys dept.

hackingbear excerpts from a story at Engadget: "Instead of resting on its laurels as China's third-largest wireless provider, China Telecom is now looking to branch out into relatively uncharted waters — namely, the U.S. consumer market. ... The proposed service would provide customers with handsets that could be used in both China and the U.S., theoretically appealing to Chinese-Americans, students or businessmen who travel frequently between the two countries ... and would even consider purchasing or constructing its own network in the States,' with the 'capacity to spend 'hundreds of millions or billions' on stateside acquisitions.' At its home turf, despite being a state-owned company, China Telecom, along with China Unicom, is being investigated over alleged monopolistic practices by the Chinese government. The two companies would face penalties of up to 10 percent of their annual business revenues if they were found guilty of monopolistic practices. This is the first such investigation into China's large enterprises since the Anti-Monopoly Law came into effect in 2008."

3 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. Thanks, but no thanks by MrEricSir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Certainly more competition is good, especially in the mobile phone market where there's barely any.

    But to trust a phone service from a country known for stifling free speech... I think you'd have to be a little crazy.

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    1. Re:Thanks, but no thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But to trust a phone service from a country known for stifling free speech... I think you'd have to be a little crazy.

      And to trust the setup and maintenance of a CALEA-compliant (i.e., completely backdoored and eavesdroppable) phone service to a country known for industrial espionage... I'd think we'd also have to be a little crazy.

    2. Re:Thanks, but no thanks by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I don't trust any telecomminucations company to be honest- but I see no reason why to distrust China Telecom more.

      They'd have to be crazy to try to censor Americans in America on American [Chinese made] phones. They would lose customers pretty quick.

      When In Rome...

      I wouldn't be the first to switch- I'd have to see their costs and quality first. There again, I'm not an early-adopter of anything.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch