Just as it seems on the verge of landing a long-coveted mobile license, China Telecom is actively rolling out Wi-Fi hotspots around the country.
It has called for a tender to build wireless networks in 21 provinces, mostly Wi-Fi, Sina Tech reported. The fixed-line leader has already built public Wi-Fi networks in cities in seven provinces - including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Fujian and Sichuan - installing them in high-traffic locations such as airport lounges and coffee shops.
CTC has long made known its desire for a piece of the wireless market. Because 3G was off-limits, Wi-Fi in unlicensed spectrum was much more attractive in chasing after high-end customers. CEO Wang Xiaochu previously has said that in 2008 China Telecom would focus on delivering public hotspots and home Wi-Fi.
Telecom has already begun network testing and is believed to have called a group procurement tender of 802.11g in March.
Sun Dehe, a vice president at networking firm H3C, one of the bidders for the networking contracts, confirmed that China Telecom was now implementing wireless networking. "The scale is huge," he said.