China may allow private firms to offer mobile services

Some good news for Chinese mobile phone users - all 1.1 billion of them. The government is mulling a pilot program to allow private firms to enter the currently state-owned telecom industry, thereby increasing competition and improving services.

Under the proposed two-year trial, private companies will be able to acquire bandwidth from major carriers to offer re-branded mobile services directly to customers. Analysts say this is a major step in liberalising the world's biggest mobile phone market.

Foreign investment is still limited to minority holdings in listed telecom companies, and foreign companies are not included in the trial program. Currently, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom mainly dominate the market. China's Ministry of Industry and IT will be soliciting public feedback until February 6th on the plan.