-- Second Agreement with Major Chinese Telecom Operator in 2010 --
BEIJING, April 5 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Funtalk China Holdings Limited (the "Company" or "Funtalk") (Nasdaq: FTLK) today announced that the Company recently signed a cooperation agreement with China Telecom Corporation Ltd., ("China Telecom"), one of three national wireless operators in China.
Under the terms of this agreement, the Company will help China Telecom develop its customer base and sell China Telecom's mobile products and services, including Funtalk's CDMA and CDMA2000 phone products and services, to customers in select Funtalk's retail stores. China Telecom is entitled to have a certain percentage of retail space to its services and mobile phone product offering in 150 of the Company's retail store locations and utilize the Company's sales staff to develop mobile subscribers as well as fix line and broadband subscribers on behalf of China Telecom. China Telecom will pay Funtalk certain fees on the use of the sales space as well as commissions based on the number of subscribers developed by Funtalk and the average revenue generated from each mobile user.
"We are thrilled to enter into our second nationwide cooperation agreement with a major national wireless operator in China since the start of the year," commented Mr. Fei Dongping, Chief Executive Officer of Funtalk China Holdings Limited. "This is our first nationwide agreement between Funtalk and China Telecom and we expect to generate revenue from this partnership agreement in FY2011, which begins in April 2010. The adoption of 3G standards in China has resulted in increased competition among the wireless carriers and our growing retail locations serve as an attractive destination for China Telecom to directly reach end users of mobile phone products and services. We look forward to helping them reach their goal in subscriber growth while adding to our revenue stream and enhancing our gross margin performance at the same time. We are pleased with our business initiatives thus far in 2010 and continue to explore and cultivate new opportunities to enhance our revenues and maximize our margin performance."
China Telecom Corporation Ltd., listed on both the New York (NYSE: CHA) and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges (HKSE: 728), is a full services integrated operator and the world's largest wire line telecommunications and broadband services provider, providing telecommunications and information services including wire line voice, mobile voice, data, video and multimedia in the PRC. At the end of 2009, the company had 189 million wire line access lines in service, over 53 million broadband subscribers and approximately 56 million mobile 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 446 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.
