Telcos in China are different that the US and understanding them can be difficult. Here is some information for you to consider. Also, keep in mind Telcos are going to be key players in any data center build out in China. The nice thing is they almost all say they want green data centers.
One of the good example of the different is an organizational change in 2004.
While times have changed, the Communist Party of China (CCP) still retains control over key commercial areas. Consider the musical-chairs reappointments of the heads of China's major telecom companies to their competitors in 2004. Investors were stunned, but seen through the eyes of the CCP, this was nothing more than an internal reshuffle.
Another interesting thing about China is the Red Machines for communication.
On the desks of the heads of China's 50-odd biggest state companies, amid the clutter of computers, family photos and other fixtures of the modern CEO's office life, sits a red phone. The executives and their staff who jump to attention when it rings know it as "the red machine," perhaps because to call it a mere phone does not do it justice. "When the 'red machine' rings," a senior executive of a state bank told me, "you had better make sure you answer it."
The red machine is like no ordinary phone. Each one has just a four-digit number. It connects only to similar phones with four-digit numbers within the same encrypted system. They are much coveted nonetheless. For the chairmen and women of the top state companies, who have every modern communications device at their fingertips, the red machine is a sign they have arrived, not just at the top of the company, but in the senior ranks of the Party and the government. The phones are the ultimate status symbol, as they are only given out—under the orders of the Party and government—to people in jobs with the rank of vice minister and above.
The phones are encrypted not just to secure party and government communications from foreign intelligence agencies. They also provide protection against snooping by anyone in China outside the party's governing system. Possession of the red machine means you have qualified for membership of the tight-knit club that runs the country, a small group of about 300 people, mainly men, with responsibility for about one-fifth of humanity.
Here is a wikipedia entry on the China Telecommunications industry.
Telecommunications industry in China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article discusses the telecommunications industry in mainland China. For Hong Kong and Macau, see Communications in Hong Kong and Communications in Macau.
The telecommunications industry in China is dominated by three state-run businesses: China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. The three companies were formed by a recent revolution and restructuring launched in May 2008, directed by Ministry of Information Industry (MII), Nationals Development and Reform Commissions (NDRC) and Minister of Finance. Since then, all the three companies gained 3G licenses and engaged fixed-line and mobile business in China.
As a result of China’s entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, a new regulatory regime is now being established and foreign operators are gradually being allowed to access the market. Although Chinese customers keep complaining that they need to pay higher prices for products and services and receive lower-quality services than customers in America orEurope, foreign travellers often feel that telecommunication services in China are cheap and convenient.[citation needed]