China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) is planning to purchase Wi-Fi equipment this month to set up the wireless network in 21 provinces. Currently, the company has already built trial networks in seven provinces and cities including Jiangsu, ZheJiang and Shanghai.

State owned China National Radio station reported yesterday that the Chinese government is planning on announcing the rumored plans to restructure telecom industry. According to the report, China’s

In 2007, China lost 2.3 million land-line phone subscribers, making the user count  fall for the first time since 1968. In comparison, the country added 86.2 million mobile phone users last year. By the end of 2007, China has 365.4 million land-line subscribers and 547.3 million mobile phone users.

Chinese telecom operator China Netcom announced the launch China Netcom Japan in Tokyo today. As China Netcom’s full subsidiary, China Netcom Japan aims to strengthen the company’s ties with other Asian telecom operators and provide multinational corporations with international voice and data services.

Spanish telecom operator Telefonica announced today that it has agreed to invest approximately $453 million in China Netcom to acquire an additional 2.22% stake in the company. The transaction is still subject to approval by Chinese regulatory agencies.

Eighteen Chinese companies including telecom service providers, content creators and system manufacturers such as China Telecom and Huawei recently formed China Interactive Media Industry Alliance (CIMIA). CIMIA aims to develop and promote technologies for AVS standard based IPTV.

According to Hong Kong media, China mobile recently indicated that it is expecting to receive the government’s approval to operate telecommunication and ISP business through the fixed-line network. According to the report, China Mobile will receive the license as soon as China issues mobile licenses to fixed-line operators.

According to the operational results announced by China Telecom, the company’s fixed-line phone users continued to decline by 880,000 in October, following a 730,000 net decrease in September. On the other hand, broadband users continue to rise, reaching 34.4 million by the end of October.

Local media reported today China Netcom, the country’s second largest fixed-line telephone provider is unwilling to extend its partnership with China Telecom and will aggressively expand its presence in Southern China.

China’s second largest landline phone company China Netcom is launching its European headquarters in London this Thursday. According to the source, China Netcom is looking to provide Chinese businesses in Europe with its voice and data services.