Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

China Untied Telecommunications Corp, a telecom group that operates the country's biggest paging service, is set to close the calling centers, as it has reportedly submitted a formal proposal to the telecom authority for withdrawing from the bleeding sector, today's Youth Daily said.
"China Unicom has turned in the proposal, and we are still deliberating on it", said an Information Industry Ministry official in charge of telecom administration.
According to the official, who was quoted by Youth Daily in anonymity, China Unicom will withdraw from the paging business by gradually stopping the networks, say first 126/127 networks, as it proposed.  Interests of the users will be fully protected, the company assures.
China Unicom's paging business has reached its peak in 2000 when the subscribers to its 198/199 national networks jumped 12 million to reach 45 million.  But after that, the rapid growth of mobile telecom and Little Smart businesses has soon wiped out the paging market.  In 2002, more than 100 paging firms nationwide were forced out of business.
China Unicom had a similar fate.  The number of its subscribers shrank to 8.56 million in 2003 and its paging business has reported a net loss over 100 million yuan (US$12 million) each year since then.
In mid 2004, the company received the telecom authority's grant to adjust its paging networks and stop the 191/192 networks, a move described by analysts as the start of a strategic withdrawal.