No surprise here: China has once again pushed back 3G upgrades for its mobile networks and many industry pundits say the country's regulators will wait until next year to issue licenses for 3G wireless networks. Analysts had originally expected China to issue the licenses by now. What's more, the country's big four carriers have begun to restructure as they built networks and added services. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the operators may even be in the process of consolidating. Wall Street advises investors to keep their eye on the carrier's fundamentals and take a peek at the oversold network equipment makers.
Speaking of fundamentals, as we noted yesterday, China Mobile, now the largest operator in the world, announced a 23 percent gain in profits during its Q2. The carrier also topped its own record with a massive number of new subscribers: 13.1 million.
For more on China pushing back its 3G licenses:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)