中國聯通和中國電信結成戰略聯盟
Shares in China’s second and third-largest state-owned telecom companies jumped yesterday on news of an alliance between them to take on market leader China Mobile.
中國第二和第三大國有電信運營商的股價昨日大漲，原因是它們宣佈將結成聯盟與市場領先者中國移動(China Mobile)展開競爭。
China Unicom and China Telecom outlined a wide-ranging agreement to fight their dominant competitor with areas of strategic co-operation including sharing capital expenditure and promoting smartphone standardisation, in addition to joint negotiation of international roaming rates and working together to promote their products.
爲了挑戰目前佔霸主地位的競爭對手，中國聯通(China Unicom)和中國電信(China Telecom)公佈了一份廣泛的協議，擬在多個領域開展戰略合作，包括共享資本支出、推動智能手機標準化、聯合談判國際漫遊資費，以及合作推廣它們的產品。
Third-ranked China Telecom and number two China Unicom each rallied more than 7 per cent in Hong Kong before ending the day up 4.8 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.
排名第三的中國電信和排名第二的中國聯通在香港上市的股票一度均上漲7%以上，最後分別收漲4.8%和3.8%。
Chris Lane, telecoms analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said that the key components for both companies were an agreement to share a new rural 4G network and a proposal for a national smartphone standard.
盛博(Sanford Bernstein)電信分析師克里斯萊恩(Chris Lane)表示，對兩家公司來說，關鍵內容是同意共享一個新的農村4G網絡，以及一項國家智能手機標準的提議。
“They’ve in essence decided to build a third network, a 4G network that will serve both the Unicom and the Telecom subscribers in the rural areas,” said Mr Lane, which would save them capital expenditure of 30-40 per cent and operational spending of 50 per cent.
“他們實質上已決定建設第三個網絡，這將是一個4G網絡，在農村地區爲聯通和電信兩家的用戶服務，”萊恩表示。此舉將讓兩家公司節省30%至40%的資本支出，以及50%的運營支出。
Mr Lane said any financial benefits from the deal were at least 18 months away. Bernstein forecasts upside of 11-12 per cent for each company’s stock price over the long term.
萊恩表示，這筆交易的財務效益至少也要到18個月後才能顯現。盛博預測，遠期而言聯通和電信兩家的股價各有11%至12%的上漲空間。
Analysts said that another aspect of the deal — promoting a new smartphone standard based on supporting six common technologies — would probably appeal to the Chinese government, and appeared to be an effort to enlist ministry officials to pressure China Mobile into signing on too.
分析師們表示，該協議的另一個方面——推動六模“全網通”成爲智能手機的國家標準——很可能對中國政府具有吸引力，而且似乎意在促使工信部官員對中國移動施壓，要求該公司也支持這種標準。
The new standard would make things easier for handset manufacturers because they would only have to make one version for all three carriers. China Telecom would stand to benefit the most as it currently uses the most limited standard.
新標準將讓手機制造商的日子好過一些，因爲它們將只需要爲三家運營商生產一款手機。中國電信從中將受益最大，因爲它目前採用侷限性最大的技術標準。
China Mobile dominates the market with a 63 per cent share, far outweighing China Unicom’s 22 per cent and China Telecom’s 15 per cent.
中國移動目前主導着市場，佔據63%的份額，遠遠超出中國聯通的22%和中國電信的15%。
The alliance follows a shuffle in August when Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Unicom, took the same role at China Telecom while Wang Xiaochu, departing chairman of China Telecom, took the same post at China Unicom. According to one former telecom official, the alliance was directed by Mr Wang. In contrast, Mr Chang resigned from China Telecom in December as a result of anti-corruption probe.
這一聯盟出爐之前，中國電信業在去年8月進行了高層人事洗牌，當時中國聯通前董事長常小兵出任中國電信董事長，同時中國電信即將離任的董事長王曉初擔任中國聯通董事長。據一名前任電信官員透露，這個聯盟是王曉初推動的。相比之下，常小兵在去年12月因成爲反腐敗調查對象而從中國電信辭職。
While executives at both telecom groups insisted that the alliance was not a precursor to a full merger, analysts said it could be the first step in a broad restructuring of the industry and that a merger should not be ruled out.
儘管兩家電信集團的高管都堅稱這個聯盟不是全面合併的前奏曲，但分析師們表示，此舉可能是電信業廣泛重組的第一步，合併的可能性不應該被排除。
Restructuring the industry appeared to have begun in October with the merging of cell tower assets into a single company, designed to reduce duplication and foster efficient capital spending.
中國電信業的重組似乎已在去年10月起步，首先是把手機信號塔資產合併成一家公司，以求減少重複和促進高效率資本支出。
The moves to pool tower assets, swap chairmen, and now to join up in a strategic alliance underlines just how clubby the world of the Chinese telecommunications industry can be, with the state encouraging just enough competition between companies to keep them from becoming complacent. The government believes too much competition could create waste and duplication.
共享信號塔資產、董事長對調，現在又加上戰略聯盟——這些舉措突顯中國電信業多麼像一個小圈子，政府鼓勵各公司之間存在恰到好處的競爭，以防它們變得自滿。政府相信，過於激烈的競爭可能造成浪費和重複。
