Singapore share market update : Sinotel Positive on impending rollout of 3G technologies in China

Singapore mainboard listed Sinotel stock price recently rebounded from a low of 7c to close at 17.5c, a four month high, likely due to the latest news flow about the Chinese government FINALLY announced the release of 3G license in China and the potential orders that may be associate with the implementation of the 3G technology. It has been mentioned that Chinese telcos are expected to spend up to a mind boggling RMB280 billions dollars to upgrade existing equipments over the next 2 years.

Sinotel also made the following announcement to indicate that the company is excited about the latest development :

CHINA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF 3G MOBILE LICENCES TO ALL THREE TELCOS

Singapore, 7 January, 2009 – Singapore Exchange (SGX) mainboard-listed Sinotel Technologies Limited (“Sinotel” or the “Group”), an innovator in the provision of wireless telecommunications infrastructure and solutions in the PRC, is pleased to announce that China has officially released third-generation(3G) mobile phone licences to the nations 3 main carriers, New China Mobile, New China Telecom and New China Unicom.

Seen as potential growth driver to the Telecoms sector, Premier Wen Jia Bao said at the end of a parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, 31 December 2008, that the Government formally agreed to give its blessing to the 3 newly restructured telecommunications companies to rollout their 3G implementation plans. A week after the announcement, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially released the licences to the 3 telcos this afternoon.

The ministry said the official implementation will see the 3 telecoms giant spend up to RMB280 billion over the next 2 years on equipment upgrading. The new technology handles faster data transfers and avail mobile users to a host of new value added services such as video streaming and making video calls.

In light of the announcement, Mr Jia Yue Ting, Executive Chairman of Sinotel commented, “Now that the Government has finally given its official endorsement, we can expect the restructured telcos to expedite their 3G upgrading works. To woo customers over, the telcos are likely to compete intensely to have the widest coverage in the shortest time possible. This is a golden opportunity for Sinotel, who has over the years positioned itself as a network expansion specialist and market leader in system integrations.”

Being the world’s largest population for mobile phone users, the telecommunications sector in China is a rapidly growing industry that recently underwent a major restructuring exercise. Upon completion, the 3 telecom giants will offer all rounded services encompassing Fixed Line, Internet Broadband and Wireless Mobile.

The 3 telcos have decided to adopt different 3G platforms with the largest carrier New China Mobile taking a lead to develop the nation’s highly acclaimed proprietary TD-SCDMA system. Respectively, New China Telecom and New China Unicom will adopt the more established CDMA2000 and WCDMA platforms which are being used globally.

Irregardless of their differences, industry experts agree that the new technology is likely drive spending and stimulate growth for associated businesses.
Looking ahead, Mr Jia adds that “2009 will be an exciting year for the China telecommunications industry and we believe there are good prospects for our business with the release of 3G mobile licences.”

If Sinotel starts to secure some of the 3G related orders, the recent low at 7c may be the last we see of it at this level for a long time………