Yangtze Power wants a stake in Datang Mobile

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-06 12:27

China Yangtze Power Co has confirmed media reports that it wants a stake in the developer of China's own cellular phone standard.

Yangtze Power, operator of the world's largest hydropower project, said it commenced talks "months ago" to buy a stake in closely held Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co, according to a statement today to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

Yangtze Power wants to tap the potential business from Datang's grip on China's TD-SCDMA technology for so-called third-generation cellular phone networks. Phone carriers may spend up to US$20 billion on 3G networks in the world's largest cellular phone market, according to CLSA Ltd's head of Asia telecommunications research Francis Cheung.

Yangtze Power will invest at an "appropriate time" to make better use of funds to boost returns to shareholders even as hydropower generation remains its main business, the Beijing-based company said in its statement.

Datang Mobile developed the time division synchronous code division multiple access, or TD-SCDMA, technology for so-called third-generation mobile services with Siemens AG.

China in January 2006 picked the homegrown standard as one of the 3G technologies it will use. The other two standards are foreign-developed WCDMA, or wideband code division multiple access, and the CDMA2000 standards.

Yangtze Power's parent China Three Gorges Corp is developing the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, Asia's longest waterway. The dam, in central China's Hubei province, is slated by 2009 to generate 84.7 billion kilowatt-hours of power a year, part of the government's plan to end power shortages.

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The two companies "have yet to finally reach an agreement," Yangtze Power said today in its statement.

China Life Insurance Co and Ping An Life Insurance Co will also buy stakes in Datang Mobile, with each expected to pay at least 1 billion yuan, the paper said. China Life's spokesman Cao Qingyang and Ping An's spokeswoman Xiao Ping declined to comment.

Yangtze Power shares fell five percent to 14.59 yuan in Shanghai at 10:42 am today. Trading in the stock was halted yesterday. Datang Mobile's shares aren't publicly traded.
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