China Telecom Achieves Milestone in Satellite Communications Market

China Telecom’s acquisition of international codes for satellite communications (SATCOM) will not only improve the competitiveness of Chinese-branded consumer devices. Pamir expects that this success also will enable China to expand its coverage and influence in regions that utilize China’s SATCOM operations, thereby fueling China’s ambition to become a true leader of the global market.  

On 5 March Chinese media reported that China Telecom, one of China’s three largest state-owned telecommunication companies, was authorized coveted international codes for its SATCOM operations by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). China Telecom secured the E.164 user dialing code (882)52 and E.212 network identification code (901)09. This was the first time that China was granted an international SATCOM resource by ITU, marking a historical milestone for China’s telecommunication industry.

Utilizing these codes, China Telecom launched an all-weather seamless SATCOM service for Chinese customers via China’s own Tiantong-1 satellites. China Telecom said it will expand its SATCOM service into sectors like international shipping, deep-sea fishing, aviation rescue, and scientific expedition for global users within coverage of the Tiantong-1 constellation. China Telecom expects the number of its SATCOM service clients will reach 3 million by 2025. 

The launching of China Telecom’s SATCOM service supports the newly added function of several Chinese smartphones. For example, Huawei introduced its SATCOM-enabled Mate60 Pro last September. Other Chinese smartphone producers like Xiaomi, Honor, and OPPO also are adding SATCOM functions to their new models. With the availability of a SATCOM function in domestic smartphones, Chinese industry experts believe future iPhone and other foreign-branded smartphones will have to add this function if they want to compete in the Chinese and overseas telecom markets.          

The Tiantong-1 constellation comprises three satellites: 

• Tiantong-1 01 (launched in August 2016) covers China’s landmass and territorial waters. 
• Tiantong-1 02 (launched in November 2020) and Tiantong-1 03 (launched in January 2021) cover the western Pacific, northeast, southeast, and central Asia, Middle East, parts of Africa, and northern Indian Ocean. Their present coverage coincides with the geographic span of China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). 

The Chinese government has said it will launch more Tiantong-1 satellites to expand coverage across the globe. 

Tiantong satellites were developed by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), which has said Tiantong-1 made several SATCOM technology breakthroughs, including the first commercial use of passive intermodulation (PIM) technology. CASC claims that Tiantong broke through several technologies “sanctioned” by the West; CASC owns the IP rights for all Tiantong-1 core technology and components.