China is restructuring its telecoms industry--a long-expected move that could bring increased competition to the market. The overhaul will see six of the country’s main state-owned telecoms companies reduced to three, all of whom will now offer both fixed line and wireless services to China’s 1.3 billion strong population, reports the NYT. Following the restructuring, China said it would, at last, issue 3G licenses. No timetable, however, was given for either the overhaul or the licenses—though analysts believe that the restructuring, at least, will happen by the end of the year.

Currently, China’s mobile market is dominated by China Mobile, which in recent years, has seen its subscriber base boom to around 400 million, unfettered as it is by any real competitor. The country’s total number of mobile users stands at 583.5 million mobile phone users at the end of April, and is worth $105 billion. In comparison, China’s fixed line market is losing customers, with government numbers showing that it shed 2.3 million people last year for a total of 365.4 million customers.

In a joint statement released on Saturday China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance said they were “encouraging” China Telecom to buy China Unicom’s CDMA mobile network, and China Unicom to merge with China Netcom, with the aim of creating two companies that could realistically compete with China Mobile.

Highlights of the Overhaul:

-- China Telecom, the country’s largest fixed-line operator with 216.29 million customers as of the end of April, will buy China Unicom’s CDMA network, which currently has 43 million customers. China Satellite Communications Corp. will be merged into China Telecom.

-- China Netcom—relieved of its CDMA network--will merge with Unicom, which has 125.4 million GSM subscribers, as of the end of April. Netcom, which is China’s number two fixed-line provider, has 108.7 million customers.

-- China Mobile will take over fixed-line operator China Tietong Telecommunications.

-- Chinese newspaper China Daily reports that following the consolidation, China Mobile users are expected to total 399 million; China Telecom will have 297 million; and China Unicom will count 256 million.