The China connection [China's telecom industry]

This paper describes the growth of the telecoms industry in China. Although China's GDP is currently half that of the United States, its GDP growth is three times as fast. This rapid growth is reflected in its telecoms sector. China has had a larger mobile telecoms market than the United States since 1992. The Asian giant had 388 million mobile phone users at the beginning of 2006. Mobile connections are rising faster in China than anywhere else in the world, with the market expanding at more than five million new connections per month. China Mobile, which, grew out of the mobile department of China Telecom, is the country's largest mobile operator, with 188 million subscribers - making it the largest mobile phone company in the world.