Efforts to draw more Xiaolingtong users
By Xiao Chen (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-20 08:54

Aiming to grab more market share for the low-end wireless service known as Xiaolingtong or personal access system (PAS), Beijing Communication Corporation vowed on Friday to further deploy its base stations in Beijing's urban areas to reach 20,000 by the end of this year.

"We will spare no effort to tap the market demand as we see a surging demand for the service," said Tang Liuming, an official with Beijing Communication Corporation, a subsidiary of China Netcom Communication Group Co.

Xiaolingtiong is built onto the city's existing fixed-line phone network and offers low per-minute rates and one-way charges.

It is predicted that there are 3 million potential Xiaolingtong users this year in Beijing. Sources close to the company said it vows to grasp at least half of the new market share.

The company said earlier that it is planning to attract about 1 million new Xiaolingtong subscribers this year.

Kicking off its Xiaolingtong wireless phone service last year, Beijing Communication Corporation had recruited a total of 600,000 Xiaolingtong subscribers by the end of last week.

"We are accelerating the establishment of base stations and related networks and facilities downtown," he said, adding that new base stations will be mainly built indoors, including shopping malls, supermarkets, office buildings and other public places.

Figures from the company indicate that there are already 16,000 base stations in the downtown area with 14,000 in use.

Lin Ming, vice-general manager of Beijing Communication Corporation, said the Xiaolingtong wireless service offers more choices to customers while the market is filled with comparatively high-priced GSM and CDMA services.

"I don't think Xiaolingtong will impact mobile communications in a big way as it is only the expansion and supplement of our fixed line service," he added.

However, analysts would rather believe that with its comparatively low telecommunication fees, Xiaolingtong is reshaping the market share of mobile telecommunications in Beijing.

In fact, the Xiaolingtong service has become a driving force for the growth of both China Telecom and China Netcom.

Analysts believe that the Xiaolingtong wireless service has already become a very competitive way for China Telecom and China Netcom to go head-to-head with the country's two mobile giants - China Mobile and China Unicom.

They warned that the birth of dual-mode PAS/GSM handsets can pose a real threat to China Mobile and China Unicom since through the dual phone, subscribers who travel outside of their service area will now have the capability of making and receiving calls on surrounding GSM networks.