China Telecom

China Telecom Corp. Ltd. is the largest fixed line service and 3rd largest mobile telecommunication provider in the People's Republic of China. The company was formerly a state-owned monopoly, but now divided into largely autonomous provincial branches. Its assets in the country's 10 northern provinces were transferred to China Netcom in 2002, leaving China Telecom with the 21 southern provinces. Although the two companies are free to compete across the whole country, Telecom still has an overwhelming market share in the south, while Netcom dominates the north. China Telecom has been listed on the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges since 2002, but the Chinese government still retains majority ownership.