NTT: Nippon Telephone and Telegraph .
AT&T: American Telephone and Telegraph .
SBC: Southwestern Bell Communications .
7. British Telecom.
8. France Telecom.
9. GTE: General Telephone and Electronics .
10. China Telecom .
This is a 1998's world-wide top10 Telecom Carriers ranking list provided by European Video and Telecommunication Institute (1999 Geneva). It is the first time that China telecommunication service provider entered into the list. The change appears to indicate the first glimmerings of a long-awaited oriental country with gigantic telecommunication market, while China prepares for its expected entry into the World Trade Organization.
While Lucent Technologies announced in August 2001 it will continue to remove 17,000 workers, its subsidiary in China is still recruiting engineers for CDMA contracts. The telecom growth is continuing to climb steadily In China in spite of the turndown in North America. As a telecom engineer, I never suspected that the lightening bolt of information technology would deeply transform our society; however, what's up now in the cradle of new technology? The regional difference is the spark that arouses my determination to survey the connections between the social economics, policy and the technology, an obfuscated question attracting me for several years. .
I have dedicated five years in China and witnessed the evolution of Chinese telecommunication industry. Contrary to the flourishing market, China telecommunication carriers and policy framer are inexperienced. If we investigate the telecom network value chain composed of infrastructure vendors, carriers, device vendors and users, we find the state-owned operators, with virtual monopoly power, control the linchpin of the chain. The asymmetric chain structure has obstructed the local companies from creating value and gaining world-class competitiveness .
My ultimate career aspiration is to become a researcher in a China based telecommunication institute, where I can play a key role in telecom management research.
