BEIJING, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Funtalk China Holdings Limited (the "Company") (Nasdaq: FTLK) today announced that the Company recently signed a cooperation agreement with China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd ("China Unicom"), one of three national wireless operators in China.
Under the terms of this agreement, the Company will help China Unicom to develop its 3G customer base and sell Unicom's mobile products and services, including Funtalk's WCDMA and GSM phone products and services, to customers in select Funtalk's retail stores. Funtalk will allocate a certain percentage of retail space to Unicom's mobile phone and netbook product offering in 143 of the Company's retail store locations and utilize its sales staff to develop 3G subscribers on China Unicom's behalf. China Unicom will pay commissions to Funtalk based on the number of subscribers that convert to 3G services as well as from the average revenue generated from each user.
Mr. Fei Dongping, Chief Executive Officer of Funtalk, commented, "We are pleased to enter into our first nationwide cooperation agreement with China Unicom, a major national wireless operator in China. We expect the agreement to be mutually beneficial and start to generate revenue for Funtalk in fiscal year 2011, which starts in April 2010. As a result of the agreement, Funtalk will be able to further increase our product sales and generate new, higher margin revenue opportunities and China Unicom will be able to utilize our retail platform to acquire more subscribers to its mobile network. Together, we believe we can add tens of thousands of new 3G subscribers in the first year of our relationship. In addition to benefiting our retail platform, we believe our distribution business can profit from closer ties to Unicom as we explore further growth opportunities.
"With the adoption of the 3G standard in China and increased competition among the major national wireless carriers, we believe the scale of our retail and distribution platform will allow us to partner with leading wireless carriers and offer attractive product and service packages to China's rapidly growing mobile subscriber base."
China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd was officially established on 6 January 2009 on the basis of the merger of former China Netcom and former China Unicom. The Company is engaged in the GSM and WCDMA cellular business in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China, the provision of fixed-line voice, broadband and other Internet-related services, information and communications technology services, business and data communications services, and other related telecommunication value-added businesses. As of 31 December 2009, the Company had approximately 147.6 million mobile subscribers, 102.8 million local access subscribers, and 38.6 million broadband subscribers.
About Funtalk China Holdings Limited
The Company is a retailer and distributor of wireless communications devices, accessories and content in China. The Company enjoys a national network of branch offices and distribution centers servicing approximately 9,500 retail outlets in over 350 cities across 30 Chinese provinces, a network of mobile phone retail chains with a total of 430 mobile phone retail stores, and an internet retailing platform ( http://www.dongdianwang.com ) to complement the Company's retail operations. More information about the Company can be found at http://www.funtalk.cn .
Safe Harbor and Informational Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements, and investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements made by the parties as a result of a number of factors, some of which may be beyond the Company's control. These factors include the risk that the Company will not use the proceeds from the offering in the manner contemplated or successfully integrate any acquisitions of retail chains, as well as the other risk factors detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statement on Form F-1, as amended from time to time. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
For more information, please contact:
Francis Kwok Cheong Wan
Senior Vice President
Phone: +86-10-5852-8027
Email: franciswan@funtalk.cn
Bill Zima
ICR Inc. (US)
Phone: +1-203-682-8200
Email: bill.zima@icrinc.com
