BT Becomes The First International Firm To Receive Telecom Licenses In China

British Telecom (BT), announced that it has become the first international telecos firm to have received nationwide licenses from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China.

British Telecom Information Consulting (Shanghai) Limited, a joint venture (JV) set up by BT Hong Kong Limited and Sun Dynasty, received ‘China nationwide Domestic IP-VPN’ license and ‘China nationwide Internet Service Provider (ISP)’ license. These two value-added licenses enable the company to sign contracts directly with its customers in the mainland and charge them in RMB.

The company has entered the Chinese market in 1995 and since then its market scale has expanded. Presently, its network covers more than 330 cities in China. Additionally, it also keeps a close strategic partnership with the country two leading telecom companies, China Mobile and China Unicom.

The enterprise provides global network IT services to multinational companies, such as Procter & Gamble, Novartis, Unilever and Reuters. Most of them need secure and reliable network connection services to expand their businesses in China. Thus, obtaining licenses will help expand BT’s business in China.

The competition among telecos enterprises in China’s telecommunication industry is fierce. Both individuals and enterprises have a certain dependence on telecommunication services. In such a situation, the entry of BT may not have a significant impact on ordinary users at present. However, it can intensify competition to improve the quality of telecommunication services and offer users more choices.―China Knowledge