Guangdong Unicom Upgrades Provincial WCDMA Network to 42Mbps
Sina Tech, 10/28/13
On October 28, China Unicom's (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) Guangdong subsidiary held a press conference to announce that the company's 3G WCDMA network will be upgraded to reach download speeds of 42 Mbps in all 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong. The company also unveiled a series of bonus data policies and mobile data-focused subscriber plans.
On May 17, 2013, Guangdong Unicom boosted network speeds to 42 Mbps in eight cities in the Pearl River Delta, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Huizhou, and Jiangmen. In January 2013, China Unicom began to introduce smartphones supporting 42 Mbps network speeds, and currently offers 100 different handset terminals by 12 manufacturers that support 42 Mbps connectivity. The handsets vary in price from RMB 1,000 to RMB 6,000.
Guangdong Unicom will offer bonus data to all of its 3G package customers through a pre-paid credit system. Users with RMB 126/month and higher plans that pay RMB 300 deposits will receive 1G of free nationwide data each month for twelve months. Customers can extend the service at the end of the year. Users with RMB 66 and RMB 99/month plans can deposit RMB 200 to receive 300M and 500M of bonus data per month, respectively.
Guangdong Unicom has also announced partnerships with Chinese internet firms to release dedicated data packages for specific mobile apps, such as a 6GB video package for RMB 15/month which provides dedicated data for the mobile clients of Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) Video, and Phoenix New Media's (NYSE: FENG) internet portal iFeng. The company also unveiled a 6GB music package for RMB 10/month that includes 6GB of data from music apps including China Unicom's Wo music app, Wo Duomi (Duomi music), and Yinyuetai, as well as a 6GB surfing package for RMB 10/month, which provides 6GB of data from Hong Weibo (China Unicom-customized version of Sina Weibo mobile client), China Unicom's Wo video service, and iFeng Video.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Guangdong Unicom Upgrades WCDMA Network to 42 Mbps in 8 Cities" MD 5/16/13 issue.
Keywords: Guangdong Unicom China Unicom mobile data package wireless 3G WCDMA tariffs 3.5G
Sending
