Xi Guohua, deputy minister of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), is reported to have said that China Unicom will not be divided.

This is a strong counterstatement to the long rumor that China Unicom will be split before the issuance of 3G licenses.

Senior telecom analysts in China predict that the Chinese government may issue 3G licenses in August or September of next year, and China Unicom is most likely to be granted a CDMA2000 license.

China Unicom has already opened a CDMA1x network with a nationwide coverage. Thanks to the low cost involved in upgrading CDMA1x network into the 3G network, China Unicom does not plan to invest too much in the transition to 3G.