New licence is expected to foster a moderately competitive market while making internet services more accessible to everyday users
China has issued a satellite mobile communication business licence to a telecoms giant, in a concrete move that accelerates preparations for the large-scale commercial roll-out of its home-grown satellite services.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on Monday that it had issued the licence to China Unicom, permitting the state-owned company to conduct services such as direct-to-phone satellite connectivity and expand its applications in emergency and maritime communications.
The move is expected to foster a moderately competitive market while making internet services more accessible to everyday users, the ministry said.
“Concurrently, coordination between telecoms enterprises and entities across the satellite mobile communications industry chain will tighten, which will be beneficial for driving industrial transformation and upgrading, as well as enhancing the resilience and security of supply chains,” it added.
