China Unicom, the country's second largest telecom carrier, established an alliance on Wednesday to promote the development of 4K high-resolution videos in China.
By partnering with online video providers including LeEco Holdings Co Ltd, mgtv.com and Youku Tudou, the State-owned telecom operator said it will step up efforts to offer consumers a better video watching experience.
Eager to lay foundation for the 4K high-resolution video services which demand faster Internet speeds, the company said it will expand its fiber-optic networks to 200 million households by the end of this year.
Its current fiber-optic network covers 160 million families after the company poured in 24.4 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) to upgrade its fixed-networks in seven northern Chinese provinces.
The move is the company's latest efforts to diversify revenue sources as its once-lucrative voice call and text messaging services were eroded by Internet companies' instant messaging services such as Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat.