The restructuring of China's telecom industry is likely to happen this year due to several factors, including China Unicom's (CHU)  willingness to sell its CDMA network and the need to accelerate the growth of China's broadband market, an analyst with an investment group said today at a conference.

"Previously, China Unicom was unwilling to sell its CDMA network. Now China Unicom is willing to sell, because its business is not going very well. They grew their revenues by only 4 percent in 2007," Francis Cheung, head of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets' [CLSA] Asian telecom research, said at the CLSA China Forum 2008 in Shanghai.

In 2007, China Netcom (CN) recorded negative year-on-year revenue growth, while China Telecom (CHA) recorded a 3 percent year-on-year revenue growth, Cheung said. China Telecom and China Netcom are the dominant fixed-line operators in China.

By comparison, China Mobile (CHL), the largest mobile operator in China, reco...

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