Three big telecom operators see leadership change amid merge speculation

(File photo)

On Aug. 24, 2015, Shang Bing, former vice-minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was appointed president of China Mobile. Xi Guohua, the former president retires. Wang Xiaochu, head of China Telecom and Chang Xiaobing, head of China Unicom will exchange their positions.

It is the first time in 11 years that the leaders of the three telecom operators have been replaced. 　　　　

Usually, the main purpose of the leadership adjustment of the three operators is to let the top leaders of the companies think about the competitive domestic telecom market from the point of competitors, thus to develop rational competitive strategy and avoid excessive competition. Just like what Wang Xiaochu said in his farewell letter, "Besides competition, there are still many areas to cooperate between the three telecom operators. Win-win should be realized."

The reversal of positions between China Telecom and China Unicom is conventional personnel adjustment to avoid the 'circle culture' due to long tenure in state-owned enterprises.

However, the disadvantageous point is that both China Telecom and China Unicom are at the climax of the construction of 4G networks. They still need time to adapt to the personnel adjustment.

China Unicom recently announced that it would build the largest FDD network in the world this year. With the top leader's adjustment, the operation way maybe changed.

According to the latest medium-term financial statements, China Mobile still holds the first place in user scale, market coverage and profit.　

News claimed that China Telecom will merge with China Unicom, and China Mobile will merge with Broadcast TV Network have not been confirmed yet.

This article was edited and translated from 《三大运营商时隔11年一把手再轮换》, source: cctime.com.