China's telecom shifts continue as three firms announce deals

China Unicom Ltd , China Netcom Group, and China Telecommunications Corp announced deals on Monday. They, along with three others, are realigning their businesses to create three groups that will be more competitive, the government expects.

China Unicom Ltd, the acquire fixed-line provider China Netcom Group Corp. Ltd in a stock deal worth 185 billion Hong Kong dollars ($23.8 billion). It also said it would sell its CDMA mobile network for 110 billion yuan ($15.86 billion) to China Telecommunications Corp, which operates China Telecom, the world's largest mobile company.

Under the terms of the agreement, China Netcom investors will get 1.508 new China Unicom shares for each share of their current stock. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2008, Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobin said.

Meanwhile, China Telecommunications will acquire fixed-line carrier Tieton Telecommunications Corp.